The Kick-Ass Spy
by skca54
Summary: Dave Lizewski knew a lot about his Dad, but then his Dad also knew a lot about him - including Dave's secret. Dave is going to learn his Dad's secret and a shocking secret it will be... An alternative universe story from my Sleep Tight and Insane universe.
1. Out of The Shadows

**Authors Note: **_This story has been written in response to a challenge by another writer: 'adm-frb'. This will be my eleventh (published) story._

_This story belongs in an alternative universe of my **Sleep Tight** and _**Insane**_ stories, and uses characters and events from both those stories. It is only intended to be a short story and can be seen as taking over from after Chapter 8 of **Sleep Tight** and Chapter 3 of **Insane**._

_As usual I look forward, with some trepidation, to any reviews. I promise to accept any and all criticism. Also I am, still, British so my spelling and grammar may look and seem strange to some._

* * *

**_Home of Dave Lizewski  
Saturday_**

Dad was looking at me differently and I couldn't work out why.

It had only been a month since _that night_, when I had almost died and I had saved the life of a very special new friend.

I hadn't heard from her very much, since we had split up and she had gone to start her new life as a normal eleven year-old girl. My life had gone back to the normal boring routine that I had endured before Kick-Ass had appeared in my life.

Nobody, except of course Katie, knew about the link between Kick-Ass and myself and I intended to keep it that way.

But then things changed – in every possible way!

* * *

"You look bored, son!"

"Tell me about it! I wish I could do something worthwhile."

"Well, why aren't you?"

"I can't think of anything exciting to do."

"Why don't you get back out there and help people, like you were doing," My Dad said innocently and I just froze.

"I – I don't know – err – what you mean, Dad!" I stammered unconvincingly.

"I'd love to meet the young girl that saved your life, too!"


	2. You Have Got To Be Kidding

**_Home of Dave Lizewski  
Saturday_**

I really didn't know how to respond!

This was kinda unreal! How the hell could my Dad know about Kick-Ass? On the other hand, why wasn't he ranting and raving about it – I would have expected him to explode and tell me that I was wasting my life and other shit like that!

I was brought out of my thoughts with a jolt, when Dad spoke again.

"Well – you gonna say anything, sport?"

"How did you...?"

"Son, I may look like a stupid old git that doesn't know his ass from his elbow, but I wasn't always like this!"

"What do you mean?" I was getting really confused now and more than a little worried!

"Look son, I know you can be a bit slow sometimes, but – I know that you and that Kick-Ass vigilante are the same damn guy!"

And out it came!

"There's no point denying it, is there?"

"Not really, no," Dad replied, honestly.

* * *

"Well, you know that I spent my early years in the USMC. While I was there, I was recruited..."

"Recruited? By who?" I interrupted.

"Let me finish!"

"I was recruited by an agency – and no, it wasn't the CIA, but still the Federal Government. I did things, some of which I am not proud about – but they needed to be done! A little like what you must have done, a month ago! I saw the pictures from the D'Amico Penthouse – I assume that was you two..."

"Yes, it was us..." I answered, a little reluctantly – would Mindy kill me for telling Dad?

"I assume that you didn't like doing what you did, but you knew that you had to do it, right?"

I just nodded.

"You killed men, a few from what I saw..."

"How did you get photos?" I asked, rather stupidly.

"Your old man has his sources!" Dad chuckled.

* * *

**_Home of Mindy Macready_**

I couldn't help grinning when I saw who was calling.

"Dave!"

"Hi, Mindy, how are ya?"

"I'm good – you?"

"Kinda!"

That instantly put me on guard. I hadn't talked to Dave in almost two weeks, things had been so busy. I missed him – but I didn't quite know why!

"What have you done, Dave?"

"Me! What – I – err – I need to talk – can we – err – meet?"

"Should I be worried?"

"Not sure..."

Well that was helpful!

"Central Park, noon tomorrow, I'll text you!"

"Thanks, Mindy!"

* * *

**_The next morning  
Home of Mindy Macready  
Sunday_**

"Marcus, I'm going out – I should be back later this afternoon."

"Where are you going?"

"Central Park," I replied sweetly.

"Should I be worried?"

"Nah! It's only me!"

"That is why I should be worried!" Marcus chuckled, but still looking serious.

"I can look after myself."

"It's not _you_ that I'm worried about! It's the rest of New York!"

"Funny! Bye!"

* * *

**_Central Park_**

Mindy had sent me a text telling me where to go and I found her sitting on a bench and looking anything but innocent!

"We're being watched!" She announced, as I sat down.

"What, no 'hello'?"

"Sorry! Hi Dave!" Mindy said with a grin.

"Who..."

"An old man... I think it's your Dad!"

"How do you know who my Dad is, or what he looks like?" I asked.

"I know things, ass!"

"Well, it's kinda my Dad that I'm here to talk about. He knows that I'm Kick-Ass and he, well, he wants to meet you – the girl who saved me..."

"You fucking what!" Mindy demanded, looking around us. "You let him know who I was!"

"I never told him your name..."

"But now he knows what I look like!"

"I didn't tell him that I was meeting you... But he seems to know stuff – things that I never knew that he knew, sort of thing!"

"You are not making any sense Dave! I should go, it isn't safe here – I..."

"Mindy, please, I – my Dad would never hurt you – I trust him, obviously, just like you trusted your Dad. Please..."

Mindy glared at me and then she glared at the ground.

"It goes against everything, but..."

"Please, Mindy..."

"Goddammit!"

A shadow fell over us both.

"Hi, I'm James Lizewski and I'm a big fan of your work, young lady!"


	3. Decision

**_Central Park  
Sunday_**

"Err – hi!" Mindy offered.

"Before I say anything else, I want to thank you for saving my son's life. Without _you_, young lady, he would be very, very dead; you and I both know that!"

"Err – no problem!" Mindy replied, blushing a little and still looking a little unsure of herself.

"Shall we go somewhere we can chat?" Dad suggested.

* * *

**_Home of Dave Lizewski_**

"Nice place!" Mindy commented. "Not seen this floor!"

I glared at Mindy, who just smirked.

Dad raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment.

"I know that you are Hit Girl and that my son is that enthusiastic vigilante, Kick-Ass!" Dad started.

"Is it safe to talk here?" Mindy asked, showing concern.

"There are no bugs – believe me Miss Macready."

Mindy growled.

"Yes, I know your name – I've done my research on you and your father – my sympathies young lady. That was a truly horrible death."

Mindy smiled a little.

"Thank you, that means a lot," Mindy replied.

We then had a few minutes of uncomfortable silence.

"So – you going to go out again?" Dad asked.

"Dad – we've both been through hell – just a month ago. Mindy's grieving over her father and I'm in no way capable of helping her with her impossible vendettas. I helped her out because I caused the death of her father and she needed me. She asked me to help, so I helped."

"So you're just gonna chuck it?" Dad responded, sounding slightly angry. "Kick-Ass represents something good to the people of this City – you don't have to be a bad-ass to be a superhero, Dave; you just have to be brave!"

"He's right Dave – I wish I could have come up with a phrase like that! Kick-Ass is the public face of being a vigilante – I'm the hidden face," Mindy said seriously. "We'd make one hell of a team, Dave!"

..._...

"But you've seen me Mindy – I'm useless!"

"No, you are actually quite good and like I said upstairs – you have potential."

"Upstairs?" Dad queried.

"Another time Dad!" I replied.

"You're good, Mindy – you could train his sorry ass!" Dad said with a chuckle ignoring me completely.

"Yes, I could!" Mindy agreed

"You want to team up, like Batman and Robin?" I asked Mindy.

"_Nobody_ wants to be Robin."

"What's wrong with Robin? Weren't you like Big Daddy's Robin?"

Mindy laughed.

"Okay, Robin _wishes_ he was me! What I'm trying to say is that we should be partners. You and me..."

"You're like in the NFL, Mindy – me, well...!" I replied.

Mindy laughed again and I thought that she was enjoying the compliments!

"So, I'll train you. I'll make sure that you can walk the walk and I'm the closest damn thing you know to a real superhero. I no longer have Big Daddy to watch my back, like at Rasul's apartment and you'll need somebody to watch your back too!" Mindy finished.

I started to respond, but I had run out of excuses! Secretly I wanted to agree; I didn't want to give up on being Kick-Ass. However, Mindy – seriously! I knew that she was good, really good; but could I keep up with her!

I had a feeling that Dad and Mindy weren't about to give up and that they would keep pushing till I gave in!

"Okay, Dad and you, purple menace!"


	4. Marcus

**_Two days later  
Tuesday_**

**_Home of Mindy Macready_**

"So – you going to tell me what you've been up to the past few days?"

"I've not done nothing – any dead bodies; they're not mine, okay Marcus!"

"Very funny, Mindy!"

"I'm serious – I'm as innocent as an angel!" I insisted.

"Yeah, an angel who's halo is currently down by her ankles! Look Mindy, I'm a Cop – I read people for a living!"

"Okay! I'm busted!" I admitted. "I was visiting Dave and his Dad!"

Marcus laughed.

"Is that all – you were with Dave!"

* * *

"It's a little bit more complicated than that!" Mindy replied and she started to squirm in her seat.

I was getting a bad feeling about this.

"Anything that involves Mindy Macready is _usually_ 'complicated'!" I paused. "Do I want to hear this?"

"Probably not!" She replied honestly with her best innocent little girl smile.

"Okay – you're being honest and that means trouble!"

"What! How? Why?"

"You've not been here long, Mindy, but I spent five years with you – your expressions, your mannerisms, _they have not changed_," I said and saw Mindy squirm some more and blush.

"Dave's Dad is not the guy I thought he would be – you're aware of what I've done, what I'm capable of, right?"

This was _so_ weird – talking to a little girl, with pigtails in her blonde hair, and discussing the fact that she could kill a grown man with barely a thought or much effort.

"Yes, Mindy... I saw you live on the internet killing people, just over a month ago..."

Mindy was still looking uncomfortable – this was the first time that we had actually come out and talked directly about her previous activities, skills and capabilities. To be honest this little girl scared the hell out of me, but when I looked at her and saw her smile, saw her smirk and all of her other emotions, I remembered the little five year-old girl that I had handed to Damon all those years ago.

* * *

We had never talked about the current 'me'.

The 'me' that killed and maimed, as if it were a natural act. I knew that Marcus tried to see me as the little girl that he once knew. I could barely remember those days and I sincerely wished that I could. I wanted to make Marcus happy, but I saw something in his eyes when he looked at me – he was scared of me and that made me feel horrible and unclean inside.

"Marcus. James Lizewski makes me look like a fucking girl scout!"

I saw Marcus frown at my use of the swear word – he severely disliked that aspect of the current 'me' too.

"Oh," Marcus commented.

"He's done worse things than I have, if I've judged him right – all for the good old US of A!"

"You're starting to lose me, Mindy."

"He used to be a Marine and after that he worked for some _other agencies_, if you get my drift!"

"I understand – I think!"

"He knows all about Dave being you know who!" I said.

"You mean: Kick-Ass?" Marcus asked with a grin.

"Yes! Well Mr Lizewski also knows about me and what _I_ am!"

"You mean: Hit Girl?" Marcus asked, this time without a grin.

I nodded.

"Oh, I see where this is going. Mr Lizewski thinks that you and Dave should be out on the streets fighting crime, like the dynamic duo!"

I scowled at his choice of words, but nodded.

"He thinks that you two running around as vigilantes is a good idea!" Marcus exclaimed. "Is the man nuts?"

This was _not_ going well! I hadn't expected it to go well, but...

"He thinks that the city needs Kick-Ass and Hit Girl," I said.

"What do _you_ think, Mindy?"

"I want to do it – I think it is right – there are people out there who need help and we can help them, with the special skills that my father gave me."

..._...

Marcus sat there for a whole minute before replying.

"Your father was like a brother to me. He was a great cop and a hero. But Big Daddy – that was _not_ your father. Okay? That was someone who robbed you of your childhood. And... Hit-Girl? That's not who you are. You are Mindy Macready, and you're just starting out on the rest of your life. I understand that you don't know who that person is yet, but you will. You just gotta try."

"I don't want to," I replied vehemently and started to feel very annoyed with Marcus.

"You don't know _what_ you want. You can't. You're not an adult – not yet."

"Yeah!" I retorted angrily. "Well I've done more in my almost thirteen years than most adults have in their lifetime."

I was seething now.

"That note that your father gave you, the one that you were supposed to open if anything ever happened to him, what'd it say?"

I couldn't believe that he was gonna use _that_ against me, but I calmed myself down before responding.

"That you would take care of me."

"And that you were supposed to listen to me, right? Well, listen up. I want you to forget about being Hit Girl – as I said, that is _not_ _you_ anymore."

I had had enough.

"Marcus... I came to talk to you because I wanted no secrets between us... I am _not_ a child, so please do not insult me by treating me like one."

Marcus looked a little shocked by this outburst

"Mindy – okay, you are very mature for your age, but you are still only twelve," Marcus said, before adding quickly. "Okay almost thirteen."

"Just 'cause I don't have fucking tits does _not_ mean I cannot make reasoned and sane decisions for myself!" I yelled at Marcus.

"Interesting use of words, Mindy! You have a remarkable vocabulary, if a little obscene at times," Marcus said dryly.

"I am _not_ backing down Marcus!" I warned.

"Can I have some time to think this through?" Marcus asked after a long pause.

"Thank you, Marcus – that's all I ask."


	5. Revealing The Past

**_That night  
Tuesday_**

_**Home of Mindy Macready**_

Despite Dave having turned around and given into his Dad and me, by the time I left that evening he was getting cold feet and wanted to think about it, so I had left his Dad talking to him!

By the next morning, Dave had finally sorted himself out, but I told him that I wanted to give Marcus a chance to back me. I spent most of the morning tidying my room, which to put it mildly was a tip and took quite a well! The plan was to offer Marcus a deal – I would be the perfect little girl for him, during the day, if he would back me being Hit Girl at night. I thought this was a fair exchange. Marcus worked late that night, so I never got a chance to see him until the following day, Tuesday. Again, I had to wait until the afternoon to speak to him – I had spent the day telling Dave to stop calling me while I started planning. I needed to work out training – what equipment we might need and how we would pay for stuff. Where would we base ourselves? Shit like that!

Finally, I had gone to bed on Tuesday feeling less then pleased with the result.

* * *

**_The following morning  
Wednesday_**

I had avoided Marcus all the previous night both because I was mad at him and because I didn't want to antagonise him any more than I had already.

I sincerely wanted his backing, if I was to go out as Hit Girl again. It would be very hard to go behind his back, as I now knew that he could read my expressions – that really was annoying I had to admit!

..._...

I crept downstairs for breakfast hoping to eat and be out of the house before Marcus appeared, but he was sitting at the kitchen table when I entered the kitchen. I stopped and did a swift about turn and headed for the front door, grabbing my jacket on the way.

"Mindy – stop!" Marcus called, just as I was about to reach for the door.

I hesitated, with every intention to ignore him and go out.

"Please, Mindy – come and sit down."

I gave in, dropped my jacket on the couch, went, and sat down across from Marcus.

"If I said no, you'd ignore me and go ahead wouldn't you?" Marcus asked. "Being Hit Girl, I mean."

I tried to keep my face devoid of expression, but obviously, I had failed.

"I thought so!"

Dammit!

"Would you at least go speak with Mr Lizewski?" I enquired, politely.

Marcus closed his eyes for a minute.

"Not going to happen, Mindy."

"Please, Marcus – I'll be the perfect little girl for you – I promise."

"Bribing a Police Officer!" Marcus chuckled.

"I'm fucking serious, Marcus. I want your support and I'm offering to be Mindy Macready."

Marcus paused for another minute. I hate when he does that!

"Find out when Mr Lizewski could come over – I'll talk with him – but I'll make no promises!"

"I love you, Marcus! I'll be back later," I said, grinning madly and seized my jacket and ran out the door.

* * *

**_Home of Dave Lizewski_**

"Hi Dave!"

"Come in, Mindy!" Dave said and closed the door behind me. "It really is a change for you to be coming in the door, instead of the window."

"Did you prefer me in your bedroom?" I asked wickedly.

"You're not so bad – your Dad was scary though!"

"Hello Mindy!" Mr Lizewski said with a smile.

"Hi, Mr L!" I replied.

"So – what did the boss say?" Mr Lizewski asked.

"He is not _my_ boss!"

Mr Lizewski just gave me a 'well, what happened?' look.

Apparently, Mr Lizewski could read my expressions too, which sucked!

"Oh, I see," he said without me saying a word.

"Would you like to come over this evening and speak to Marcus?" I ventured.

"Are you sure?" Mr Lizewski asked.

"Marcus said I should ask you – I tried persuasion, but my normal methods of persuasion tend to leave the person no longer alive!"

Mr Lizewski laughed.

* * *

**_That evening_**

_**Home of Mindy Macready**_

There was a knock at the door, followed by a thunderous racket as Mindy came pounding down the stairs and ran to the door.

I smiled at her excitement. This really meant a lot to her. Mindy opened the door and two people entered and then Mindy closed the door.

I recognized Dave and assumed that the other person was...

"James Lizewski and you must be Sergeant Williams of the NYPD."

"Yes – I am, please call me Marcus," I said a little surprised at the smiling man.

"Call me James. Now why don't the kids go and play, while we have a chat?" James suggested.

I noticed that Dave and Mindy vanished in a second.

Talk about a set up!

* * *

"Cool, love the pink, Mindy!" Dave said as he walked into my room.

"Oh crap!" I exclaimed as I grabbed a pile of clean underwear off the bed and shoved them into a draw.

I saw Dave smirking.

"Don't say another word!" I warned.

"Was that..." Dave sniggered. "My Little Pony?"

"No!" I replied sharply and felt myself blushing.

"Your room is nice, Mindy – very, err, girly..."

"Okay, smartass – Marcus wants me to be the perfect little girl, dolls and all!" I growled. "Come on, let's listen in."

..._...

We crept to the top of the stairs and heard Mr Lizewski talking.

"... I think that they have talents; obviously Mindy a lot more than Dave..." I sniggered at that! "I can see why you have reservations Marcus, but you had a rough childhood too, didn't you."

"What!" Marcus responded. "This isn't about me – it's about that little girl upstairs!"

"She may look like a sweet little girl on the outside, but on the inside she's a hardened killer and very efficient from what I've seen."

"You talk a lot, but I see no evidence that you are who you think you are."

"A typical Cop – I can't fault you there! Okay, you got involved with the wrong people when you were about seventeen – am I on the right track?"

"Go on..."

"You were arrested, by one Officer Damon Macready, who for some reason saw potential in you – he said that you know, in the arrest report. Next thing we know – you attend the Police Academy and end up being mentored by the same Damon Macready. He teaches you how to be a stand up Cop, earn respect, and obey the law. Then things went to shit about twelve years ago not long before little Mindy came into the world."

"Okay – you obviously have an interesting background and access to things that very few people have access to. I have loved Mindy ever since the day that I was first entrusted with her. She was the most beautiful baby that I had ever seen and what scared me the most, was that I was responsible for her and yes, I owed Damon a lot. I still look at her now and see that same baby girl as she grew into a beautiful five year-old and then Damon took her away and turned her into this – thing..."

"What has been done, is done – Mindy – Hit Girl – she cannot be undone, she cannot be unmade. Damon achieved something amazing – I am not saying he was right, with what he did..."

"You're damn right about that!" Marcus responded strongly.

* * *

I was stunned by what I was overhearing and I suddenly realized that Mindy was no longer beside me.

I turned to find Mindy sitting on the landing and she looked strange... I moved over and sat beside her.

"You okay?" I asked.

"I really didn't want to hear most of that!" Mindy said quietly.

"Marcus really cares about you and that's why he can't bear to see anything happen to you. I really can't blame him; slicing and dicing drug guys isn't entirely safe, Hit Girl – especially when you forget the fat bastard outside the door with the knife!"

Mindy laughed.

"Okay – I rather fucked things up there and yes, I felt really stupid right then – almost shit myself!"


	6. Gigante

**_Wednesday evening_**

_**Home of Mindy Macready**_

"Mindy!" Marcus called.

I looked over at Mindy.

"You ready?" I asked tentatively.

"I'll have to be," Mindy replied and stood up, but she still looked a little upset by what she had heard as we headed downstairs.

"What?" Mindy demanded of Marcus.

"James has made some good arguments, but nothing he has said has swayed me. I don't want you going out there as Hit Girl – not yet at least. I need time to think this through, properly," Marcus explained.

* * *

I felt my temper rising inside me, but fought it back down again. I knew that swearing at Marcus would get me precisely nowhere – I had learnt that very quickly!

Mr Lizewski, though, seemed to have an ace up his sleeve.

"Marcus, how about I gather together enough dirt on you pal, Gigante, that you could bust him?" James suggested amicably.

I saw Marcus's temper flare.

"That fucking traitorous bastard is no fucking pal of mine!" Marcus exploded.

"Dollar – jar!" I growled, grinning at Marcus.

Marcus glared down at me, but then grinned back.

"I apologise for my language, Mindy!"

"No need for apologies, old man; we all need to swear occasionally," I replied.

"Yeah, _occasionally_; just not every other word!" Marcus said.

I had to laugh at that! Marcus turned to look directly at Dave's Dad.

"You get concrete, incontrovertible evidence against that man and I'll be very, very amenable," Marcus said. "I'd even let Mindy take up pole dancing in a strip club!"

James smiled. Mindy did not.

"Give me a few days."

* * *

**_'A few days' later  
Thursday_**

My Captain called me into his office a week later.

His expression was one of – pleasure. Extreme pleasure!

"You look pleased, Captain," I commented as I closed the door behind me.

"Sit down, Sergeant."

The Captain had his hands resting on a fat file that lay on his desk.

"This file was delivered this morning, before I arrived. It is _hot_! It's also the end of Gigante – he'll be wearing orange for the next twenty years!"

He came through – James Lizewski had come through, just as he had promised. The Captain was a good cop and hated Gigante with a passion. Everybody knew who the number one rotten cop was: Lieutenant Victor Gigante. No proof had ever been found against Gigante, but everybody knew that the bastard was dirty. We just couldn't do anything about it – until now.

"That is _the_ best news, I've heard in a long time," I replied.

"Now, the file also says that you had a key hand in gathering this information. I want you to arrest Gigante and bring him in... Which means that there is now a slot available... Lieutenant!"

The Captain threw an item towards me. I caught it and turned it over. It was the medallion of a City of New York Police Lieutenant.

"Thanks, Captain!"

"It's overdue, Marcus – use it well."

..._...

I left the Captain's office with my new badge around my neck.

I needed to plan the takedown of Gigante. He would not go down without a fight, and he might have his own cronies. Some of whom we already had the names of, thanks to James.

However, there could be others.

* * *

"Mindy!"

I had just got home and needed some assistance.

"Yeah!" Mindy replied, appearing at the top of the stairs.

"Get your damn costume on – I have a use for Hit Girl!"

Mindy just stood there her mouth hanging open.

"Hello!" I called up the stairs.

"You – want – Hit Girl?" Mindy stammered, incredulously.

"If she hasn't completely lost the ability to speak or interact with the real world," I replied, enjoying Mindy's confusion.

"What do you want me, or rather _her_, to do?" Mindy asked.

"An NYPD Lieutenant needs her help," I said and ostentatiously swung my medallion into view.

"Wow – fuck me!" Mindy exclaimed as she came down the stairs. "You made Lieutenant, how?"

* * *

**_That evening_**

I was still confused.

"Get over it, girl!" Kick-Ass laughed.

"He actually insisted that I put the costume back on!"

"This cop is dirty, you remember what Marcus said," Kick-Ass stated.

Earlier, Marcus had told us about Vic Gigante. How when my Daddy had refused to be bought and was then set-up by D'Amico, Gigante had been the next choice to be D'Amico's lapdog. Gigante had worked for the mob, for as long as I had been alive.

Marcus had given me specific instructions and certain lines that I was _not_ to cross. I would do what I was told; at least I would try to!

"It's good to see you back in that costume – I can't believe I'm saying this, but I've missed Hit Girl!" Kick-Ass said.

I actually felt myself blushing!

..._...

We were waiting in a badly lit and deserted parking garage, on the third level. Marcus was on the level below, awaiting the arrival of Gigante. We hoped that Gigante had no idea what was about to happen to him, but he had not survived almost twelve years, as a dirty cop to get himself caught out now.

As we had expected, Gigante had sent some of his minions on ahead to check that this was not a trap and to provide backup. Our job was to ensure that Gigante _had_ no backup. Nevertheless, under no circumstances were we to kill anybody. Mind you, Marcus never said anything about scratches or bruises, or maybe the odd broken bone! I wrapped my gloved hands around my favorite weapon – my bō-staff and fantasized about what I could do with it, given some alone time with Gigante!

* * *

**_Level four_**

Four unmarked cars pulled up, on the second level of the parking garage.

They had checked out each of the five levels and then radioed an 'all clear' to Gigante who then appeared in his own car, joining the other four. Nine men all told. Six of them walked around the parking garage and ensured that nothing would happen to their boss. The remaining pair had remained with Gigante.

It was time to even the odds.

"Hey, old man – you're not supposed to be here!" A man called out.

"Who are you?" I responded, closing the distance.

"NYPD – we need you to leave the garage now!" The other man answered.

Neither man had a hand anywhere near his weapon. Rookies! I stumbled, or pretended to and both men came forward to assist me – again a rookie move. Once the men were both reaching down to help me, I seized a pair of wrists and heaved.

Neither man was expecting strength; they were expecting a weak old man. Both of them collapsed on the concrete behind me. I followed up with a punch into the neck of each man. Both were breathing, I checked, but unconscious and would be for long enough.

I moved off the fourth level and headed down; the fifth level was clear, so no need to go up.

* * *

**_Level three_**

There were two men on our level.

Kick-Ass would be my backup, as I went after the pair of dirty cops.

"Hey, cunts," I growled out of the darkness and both cops span around.

"What the fuck are you?" One demanded, reaching for his weapon.

"It's the nutcase from that internet video, remember," The other one said.

"Oh, yeah!"

Both cops reached to draw their pistols, but as they did I flew forwards and rammed the centre of my bō-staff into the first dirty cops face, breaking his nose and sending blood flying. The other man brought his pistol up and fired off a shot.

I was able to flip over the head of the second man as the bullet flew past me. I kicked out and caught the man in the side of the head.

"Hey!" It was a third man, who appeared from the staircase, his gun in his hand.

The man did not get far, as Kick-Ass brought a baton down on the back of his head. The man went sprawling. Kick-Ass had his back to the doorway, when another dirty cop appeared, his pistol raised.

"Kick-Ass!" I called out in warning, just as the cop fell forwards and sprawled onto the concrete and another man entered the level.

It was James Lizewski and he had a rubber sap in his hand. He smiled as I ran over.

"Never leave home without one!" He quipped then turned to Kick-Ass. "Now, Kick-Ass, we always keep our backs where?"

"To the wall Dad, I know. Um, it... it won't happen again. Nice takedown, by the way!" Kick-Ass replied, with a smirk in my direction.

I didn't dare comment!

* * *

**_Level two_**

"What was that?" Gigante demanded looking upwards.

"Car backfiring?" I responded and hoped that Mindy was safe. "Why so jumpy Vic?"

"You two go see what's going on," Gigante ordered.

I waited until the two dirty cops vanished into the darkness, towards the stairs.

"What the fuck am I doing here, Sergeant?" Gigante asked, facing me again.

"That would be _Lieutenant_, Vic!" I said, letting my medallion hang where it could be soon. I saw both the surprise and unease on Gigante's face.

"There are no Lieutenant slots open – whose slot have you got?"

"That would be _your_ slot, you dirty bastard!"

Gigante reached for his pistol, but I already had mine out and pointed at his head.

"No! Hands in the air – I really want to shoot you for what you've done – I really do, but trouble is, I'm not a dirty cop!"

"I'm too powerful, Marcus – I have too many friends. I setup that do-good asshole Macready; I can do the same for you. Do you want to risk it?" Gigante asked, with a smile.

I smiled back.

"Thank you, Vic!"

The sound of sirens interrupted any further conversation as several NYPD Police cars roared into the parking garage, led by the Captain's unmarked Fusion. I rammed my fist into Gigante's face and he crumpled to the floor. I flipped him over, cuffed him and removed his pistol and backup piece.

"Take that piece of shit away and go get his pals!" I ordered the arriving Police Officers.

"Right away, Lieutenant!" They responded.

"Congratulations, Lieutenant Williams," The Captain said with an enormous smile.


	7. The Next Chapter

**_That night  
Thursday_**

**_Safehouse A_**

We had all returned to Safehouse A.

Why? Because Marcus already knew about the place! It made no difference, as I was not intending on using Safehouse A anymore – I was intending to activate another Safehouse, instead.

"So, Mindy – when are you starting your pole-dancing?" Dave asked.

I glared at Dave and then turned to find a smirking Marcus.

"Not you, too!" I growled angrily. "Look, if you two hadn't noticed; I don't exactly have anything to show off on a damn pole – I've seen skating rinks with more fucking bumps!"

* * *

I watched Mindy stalk off to her bedroom to get herself changed.

I heard her muttering something about 'a pole', and where Marcus could stick it!

"We really shouldn't wind her up – it could backfire, you know," I warned Marcus.

"I know – but it _was_ fun," Marcus replied, still grinning.

"You both did well!" Dad said with a smile.

"Not bad for a dick in a wetsuit!" I quipped.

* * *

When Mindy returned, she was back looking like an eleven year-old girl – even down to the pigtails!

"Right, young lady – I just want to run a few things by you, if that's okay, of course?" Dad asked Mindy.

"Yeah – go ahead," Mindy, replied.

Dad looked around the room, at the walls covered in weapons. Then pointed at a pistol low down, beside the door.

"Tell me about that one!"

"Heckler &amp; Koch Mark 23 in .45 ACP," Mindy replied, without hesitation and rolled her eyes.

"And this one?"

"Heckler &amp; Koch P7 in nine-millimetre."

"Beside the Mark 23?"

"Jericho 941 RS Semi-Compact in nine-millimetre – gimme a hard one!"

Dad scanned the walls and pointed to a mean looking weapon up by the ceiling.

"Franci SPAS-12 shotgun with folding stock, 12-gauge!" Mindy looked bored.

Dad pointed to a pair of small weapons beside the bathroom door.

"Steyr TMP, Tactical Machine Pistol in nine-millimetre."

Mindy continued to reel off weapon names as Dad pointed randomly around the room.

"L85A1 – M4A1 – SIG SG552 – G36E with AG36 grenade launcher – AR-15!"

"You are good, young lady, very good – you know your shit," Dad said finally, with a laugh. Mindy sighed audibly, but looked pleased with herself.

"Very good, Mindy – I'm impressed, too!" Marcus admitted.

"Thank you, James! You could not have picked a better person to take down – but then you knew that didn't you," Marcus said to Mr Lizewski.

"Yes, I knew there was no love lost between you and Gigante!"

* * *

**_The following day  
Friday_**

I was a minor hero around the station.

Everybody was happy to see the back of the traitorous Gigante. Well maybe not all! Several cops had handed in their badges, rather than suffer the indignity of having it taken off them. They were still arrested, though.

I had always had the respect of the other Police Officers, but the story of me punching out Gigante and putting on the cuffs myself had spread. I was even getting handshakes from senior officers!

Suffice to say, Gigante was now banged up in solitary, for his own protection. He seemed to have had a few 'accidents' on the way back to the station and had numerous extra cuts and bruises. But such is life!

* * *

I had slept well after getting home the previous evening.

We had taken down a major thorn in the City's side. Not to mention a man you had in a way, had a part in creating me. Strange thought that! Without Gigante, Daddy might not have been framed. That wasn't quite true, though – D'Amico would have just used another bent cop!

I had played this 'what if' game too many times, since Daddy had died. It just got me upset and I knew that I had to stop playing that game before it drove me nuts!

I hoped that those assholes would have finished joking at my expense, about that damn pole dancing!

I called Dave.

..._...

"Hey, Mindy! How's my favourite pole dancer?" Dave quipped over the phone.

"Do I have to dignify that with an answer?"

"Nah! Just a bit of fun, sorry Mindy."

"I was quite surprised that you remembered what Daddy said, back at Rasul's, Dave."

"How the fuck could I forget anything that happened at Rasul's!" Dave exclaimed.

"I _was_ good, wasn't I?"

"You were damn scary – I'll say that much," Dave replied with a chuckle.

"Meet me at 369 Park Avenue, Brooklyn – _ALONE_!"

* * *

**_369 Park Avenue, Brooklyn_**

It was a decrepit looking building with four floors.

There were three entrances at ground level, two had steel shutters down, and the third had its steel shutter raised. I went to the doorway and a few feet inside the shutter was a large, solid looking door. Beside it was a buzzer. I pushed it.

"Took you fucking long enough!"

The door made a buzzing and clicking noise and I pulled it open. I went in and let the door click shut behind me. The back of the door seemed to be a sheet of thick steel. I was standing in a corridor beside some stairs that went up.

"Hey green asshole, up here!"

I looked up and saw Mindy grinning down at me from the floor above. At the top of the stairs, she grabbed my hand and pulled me over to a set of double doors. She punched a code into an illuminated pad, to the left of the door, and then pulled the left door open.

..._...

My mouth dropped open at what I saw.

The room was enormous, seemed to take up a good chunk of the first floor of the building, and was about fifteen feet in height. To the right of the door was some steel stairs that went up to a mezzanine floor. In front me, on the floor was a large training mat and around the walls were weapons of every conceivable type – it was worse than Safehouse A was!

"Welcome to Safehouse C, Kick-Ass!" Mindy said proudly.

"It _is_ awesome!" I commented.

I noticed that Mindy had stuck my wet suit and her costume on to mannequins – she must have done that this morning. To the left, under the mezzanine was a small kitchen with a table. To the right, between the door and the stairs was a bathroom and a storeroom. Mindy dragged me up the steel stairs. Here, there was a pair of bedrooms that overlooked the street and you could look down onto the mat.

"What are we doing here, Mindy?" I asked.

"I am going to train your sorry ass!" Mindy replied.

"This is gonna hurt, isn't it?" I asked forlornly.

Mindy smiled.

"Fuck yeah!"


	8. The Training

**_Two weeks later  
Saturday_**

**_Safehouse C_**

Mindy was not kidding – it did hurt!

She seemed to have a training regimen planned out – although she had not let me in on exactly what that regimen was. Even with my damaged nerve-endings, it hurt like hell. In a weird way, I kinda liked it; it gave me a sense of purpose, like we were driving towards something. Mindy enjoyed most of the training. Well, except for the second morning.

..._...

We stood on the mat, facing each other.

"Hit me!" Mindy ordered.

Okay!

"You fucking green asshole; that fucking hurt!" Mindy yelled at me. "What the fuck did you do that for?"

I had punched her, catching her on the left cheek and she had fallen backwards onto the mat with a scream. It had seemed obvious, in hindsight, that Mindy had not expected me to react that way. Oh, well!

"You told me to!"

Mindy sprang back to her feet, a hand on her cheek. "I did, didn't I?" she groused, grimacing with the pain.

"Look, I'm sorry –," I began

"Never apologise, it's a sign of weakness," Mindy said, interrupting me.

"Can I at least get you some ice?" I tried.

"Yeah."

..._...

After that episode, Mindy was a little more careful about what orders she gave out!

I was literally getting the shit kicked out of me and I tried to get Mindy to go a little easier on me, but to no avail. Dad was not much help – he just suggested that I man-up and quit moaning about being beaten up by an eleven-year-old girl. Dad seemed to ignore the fact that the same eleven-year-old girl was a seasoned killer!

Mindy took me through a mixture of disciplines to begin with – general fitness training, Taekwondo, Krav Maga and weapons.

* * *

I was not amused about that second day, although Marcus had loved it.

"What's that on your cheek, Mindy?" Marcus had asked when I had returned home.

"Nothing that I want to talk about."

"Hit Girl losing her touch?"

"Keep talking and you might find out!" I had growled.

"If you're not up to training Dave..."

"I mean it Marcus – not another word!"

I was fuming, but Marcus would not stop grinning.

..._...

Since that little episode I had been careful about what I had asked Dave to do – he was strong and perfectly capable of breaking something important in my body. I may have been Hit Girl, but my body was still that of a slim pre-teen!

Mr L had offered to help with some of the weapons training, but initially I was dubious about that, but he had insisted.

That was when we _both_ received a _big_ surprise.

* * *

**_Saturday afternoon_**

**_Dave's House_**

Mindy and I were standing in our basement, along with Dad.

Why we were there, I had no idea! The place was supposed to have been a den, but when Mom died it kinda fell into disuse and was just filled with boxes of crap. Mindy noticed it first.

"Why is the basement so much smaller than the house above it?" She asked.

"You are a _very_ clever girl!" Dad said, genuinely impressed. "Maybe I'll get some intelligent grandkids one day!"

"Dad!" I exclaimed loudly and saw Mindy blush pink.

"Just kidding – Mindy go press that bit of wood just below the fake tuna fish."

Mindy did that and an electronic keypad was revealed. Mindy looked impressed.

"Thirty-six, twenty-four, thirty-six and forty-two!"

Mindy punched in the numbers and a panel slid to one side revealing a steel door. Another keypad was visible.

"Same again," Dad prompted.

The door clicked open and curiosity got the better of me. I pulled open the door and froze. Then Mindy pushed past me and she froze too, before the most enormous smile imaginable appeared on her face. She was in Hit Girl heaven!

I could have been forgiven for thinking that I had just walked into a gun store! Around the walls were steel racks and steel cages that held more weapons, I was sure, than Mindy had at the Safehouses. Along the left wall were rifles mounted vertically, standing on their butts in a rack. I had no idea of _what_ they were, but there had to be over a dozen different varieties. Above them and mounted horizontally were other, shorter weapons that I presumed were sub-machine guns. Pistols were over to the right and along the back wall. Any remaining space was filled with sharp blades of various design and deadliness.

* * *

The room was fucking awesome.

I felt excited just trying to absorb all the weapons around the walls.

Almost every conceivable manufacturer was visible: Accuracy International, Glock, Heckler &amp; Koch, Colt, Franchi, Dragunov, Barrett, Calico, Anschutz, Mauser, Beretta, Astra, Smith &amp; Wesson, Benelli, Remington Arms, BAE Systems, Bushmaster, Kel-Tec, FN Herstal, Ruger, SIG Sauer to name but a few.

My excitement grew as I saw the different pistols, sub-machine guns, assault rifles, shotguns and PDWs. The names and designations of each weapon popped into my head as I gazed around each wall of the room: AS50, Astra 400, L86A1, Anaconda, 1911, 92F, FAL, MAC-10, L85A2, M4A1, SLR, M82A1, G36K M4 Super 90, 93R, PX4 Storm, M950, AR15, MG36. SVU-A, P90, MP5SD3, Desert Eagle, SPAS-12, M16A3, Python, Hi-Power, Five-seveN, SCAR PDW, AA-12. Glock 18, 17, 26, 30, Tec-9, USP, MP5K, P232, MP7A1, HK416, G36C, UZI, P-11, P226, M1911.

It was unbelievable!

The blades were just out of this world and all in perfect condition – I was starting to feel weak in the knees.

In the centre of the room was a workbench beside which was a rack that held rounds for every weapon in the room. The rounds went from the tiny .22-calibre Short, through the modest .32-calibre and .380-calibre rounds to the monster .357 Magnum, .40-calibre, .45-calibre and even .50-calibre rounds for the Browning belt-fed machine gun that sat in the corner of the room on its tripod mount, not to mention the shotgun shells.

* * *

I walked over to Mindy and checked the floor around her.

"What are you doing?" Mindy asked curiously.

"You seemed so excited I thought you may have pissed yourself!" I chuckled.

"Asshole!"

"Like what you see?" Dad asked, grinning at Mindy's expression.

"How long has this shit been down here?" I demanded.

"Since before young Mindy was born. I've added to the setup a few times since."

"I assume you have permits for all this?" Mindy asked.

"As you do for your collection?"

Mindy did not answer; she just blushed.

* * *

**_The next day  
Sunday_**

"All going good, Dave?"

"Yes, thanks, Mr Williams – Mindy is a good teacher."

"I would hope so! Mindy, I never agreed with the way that Damon brought you up, but he was the best at teaching and passing on his skills; I should know, I owe him everything – he taught me a hell of a lot before..."

"Thank you, Marcus," I said with a smile.

We were having dinner with Marcus that evening, we generally swapped around between the houses – Marcus liked to get updates on what was going on; it was the Cop in him. Marcus was my life and at that point, in my short life, I could not have been happier. In ten days, I would be twelve. Daddy had been gone two months and now I was finally moving on with my life.

Then suddenly, my life stopped for the second time in two months.

* * *

Without warning, automatic gunfire laced through the front of the house.

I dived to the floor, dragging Dave down with me and reaching for Marcus, but he was already diving under the table. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Plaster and glass fell to the ground around us; the noise was horrific. I started getting flashbacks of being pinned down behind the kitchen counter at the D'Amico Penthouse, only two months previously. I urged myself not to panic, I crawled out from under the table and seized Marcus's pistol, a SIG Sauer P226, from the counter behind the table and made for the front door.

The gunfire ceased and I heard tyres spinning on the street outside. I wrenched open the door in time to see the taillights of a car heading down the street. I emptied the full magazine towards the rapidly departing vehicle, which soon vanished around a corner. I ran back into the house; it was a scene of absolute carnage – glass was everywhere, the bullet holes seemed to be of nine-millimetre calibre. I saw Dave, he was kneeling beside the table; he had a panicked look on his face and I could hardly blame him considering... The look on his face changed to distraught... Oh God… No!

Marcus was slumped in the corner of the room, his shirt was almost completely red and the carpet beside him was the same colour.

"_Marcus_!"

* * *

Mindy had screamed his name.

I saw the tears well up in her eyes and spill down her cheeks. She dropped the pistol that she held in her right hand and slumped down to her knees beside Marcus. He was still breathing but only barely; he had lost too much blood, I could see four bullet holes in his chest; he only had seconds left to live.

"I love you Mindy – you go do what – what you do best." Marcus was forcing out the words as best he could. "You help – protect this City – promise me."

"I will Marcus. I will – I promise." Mindy was struggling; her tears were almost a torrent. "I love you, Marcus."

Marcus had been gripping Mindy's hand, tightly. Now his hand hung free from Mindy's, his eyes closed for the final time, and that was that. She kept repeating his name, as she hugged the still warm corpse of her guardian.

I could not believe that this was happening. I did not know what to do – I could hear sirens approaching. Then my brain seemed to kick into life.

"Mindy! We've got to go; we have no idea who we can trust," I said, but got no response.

I knelt down beside the sobbing eleven-year-old girl and pulled Mindy away from Marcus, gently, but then more forcefully.

"No! I am not leaving him!"

"You must. Please, Mindy – we need to get to the Safehouse."

"No!"

Fuck! I seized Mindy around her waist and wrenched her away from Marcus. Mindy was struggling to get free and screaming Marcus' name, not to mention calling me every foul word she could come up with – which seemed inexhaustible, as she never repeated one insult, not once. After a couple of minutes, she stopped screaming and hung limp in my arms.

"You can put me down now," she growled, ominously. The crying had stopped.

I put her back on her feet and Mindy turned to me. I saw the same look that I had seen only two months previously. She had discretely filed Marcus' death and all the associated emotions, until later. It was not Mindy Macready standing in front of me; it was Hit Girl.

"Let's move it!" She announced, giving Marcus one final look.


	9. Torn Apart

**_Sunday evening_**

**_Safehouse C_**

Mindy had not said a word since we had returned to the Safehouse.

Initially she had just stood in the centre of the mat, staring into nothing. I could see her chest heaving and I could see the anger on her face. She had just lost another important person in her life and sad as it may have sounded, there was nobody else for her to lose.

"Mindy, I..."

She turned to face me and I stopped talking, momentarily scared of what she might do.

"I have lost the most important person in my life; my Daddy. I have now lost the second most important person in my life: Marcus. I only have the third most important person in my life left."

"Who..."

Mindy smiled and shook her head.

"It's you, doofus!"

"_Me_!"

"Dave, you've saved my fucking life, twice. I know it sounds crap, but you are all I have left. I..."

Mindy burst into tears again. She just stood there and cried, before collapsing onto the mat. I sat down and pulled her to me and she cried her heart out.

I had called Dad, on the way back to the Safehouse and explained what had happened. He had told me to stay put at the Safehouse for now.

* * *

**_The next morning  
Monday_**

**_Safehouse C_**

I awoke to find myself on my bed.

I was still dressed and I could not figure out why I had slept in my clothes. I saw Dave appear at my bedroom door – he grinned sheepishly.

"I carried you upstairs after you cried yourself to sleep, last night."

"Thanks, Dave. Thanks for staying with me."

Dave actually looked embarrassed. I felt like crap, I smiled at Dave – he was now all that I had left in the entire fucking world! My clothes were clinging to my skin and I looked down to see the dried blood – Marcus' blood. I did not normally have a problem with blood, but at that moment – I started to hyperventilate, I felt myself close to panic. I ripped off my clothes, oblivious to Dave in my bedroom, until I was just wearing my knickers.

"Glad you stopped there!" Dave quipped and I felt myself blushing.

I grabbed a convenient towel. Not really sure why I bothered – it wasn't as if there was actually anything for Dave to see!

"Sorry – I just had to get rid of those clothes – the blood..."

"You don't need to explain yourself to me, Mindy – go get a shower. I'll cook some breakfast."

I took Dave's advice, grabbed some clean clothes and headed downstairs to the shower. Yes, stripping off in front of Dave was embarrassing, but I felt comfortable – I trusted Dave with my life. He obviously trusted me with his, so I would return the favour. The hot water felt good on my skin and I was glad to be able to wash off the blood that stained me. I needed to focus – I had to find the fucking bastards that did this.

..._...

"Err, Mindy – you okay in there?"

I snapped back to reality.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You've been in there like forty minutes, breakfast is ready," Dave called and then I heard him laugh. "There's not all that much of you, so it can't take that long to wash!"

I actually laughed at that. I quickly finished up, turned off the shower and dried myself. I pulled on clean underwear, a t-shirt and shorts. After breakfast, I wanted to get straight down to training which would get my mind focussed.

* * *

"You look a lot better."

"Thanks, Dave."

"You look better with clothes on, too!" Dave added with a smirk and I felt myself blushing again.

I took a few more mouthfuls of bacon and eggs, which allowed my blushing to subside. I then had a nasty thought.

"Dave – you _will_ stay with me, won't you?" I asked, trying not to sound too anxious.

"Mindy, I'm with you to the bitter end. I will not leave you – not now, not ever. I promise."

I felt relief flood over me. Dave was all I had left. I was Hit Girl, but I could not survive on my own – that had already been proved on various occasions!

"I'm sorry," I started.

"Never apologise, it's a sign of weakness," Dave said.

"Twisting my own words against me?" I asked angrily, but smiled anyway.

"Your mind is full of so much crap this morning, Mindy – you need to give yourself time to sort it all out," Dave said. "We can focus on training after you've eaten, it'll get your mind off things."

Dave may only be new at being a vigilante, but he caught on quick and had three and a half years extra experience on me. I nodded, reluctantly and finished off my breakfast.

* * *

Mindy spent the next hour pounding punch-bags and attacking targets.

She went at it non-stop, for the full hour. When she did finally stop, it was out of sheer exhaustion and sweat was pouring off her. Mindy's t-shirt and shorts were soaked and clung to her skin. I was starting to worry about her. I helped her to a chair, in the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.

"Mindy, don't push yourself too hard."

"I won't Dave. I know how far I _can_ push myself."

I was not convinced. Just then, there was a buzzing noise from the door. Mindy jumped up, instantly prepared for danger. I looked up at the security camera images.

"It's Dad!"

"How the hell did he find my Safehouse?" Mindy demanded.

"Well, let him in and you can ask him!"

"Oh, yeah, sorry!" Mindy said and hit the button to open the door, downstairs.

..._...

"Morning!" Dad said, with a somewhat forced grin.

"Hi, Dad," I replied with a wave.

"Hi, Mr L."

"Mindy, I am so sorry for what happened last night. Anything you need – you just ask..."

I was surprised to see Mindy nod and then give my Dad a hug!

"Thank you. You and Dave are all I have left."

"You pushing it, young lady?" Dad asked, pushing the sodden Mindy away from him.

"Yeah, kind of," Mindy replied, going slightly pink.

"I spoke with some pals," Dad started. "So far the NYPD have no leads, nothing. They have many theories, but nothing substantial to make a start. Everybody is shocked, by what happened to Marcus.

"For now, I think you two need to stay out of sight, here at the Safehouse. Never mind how I found you, Mindy; I have ways. I will be your eyes and ears on the streets – I'm just a senile old git! Keep up with your training and I will send over all intelligence I can get my hands on."

"Thanks, Dad."

"Yeah, thanks," Mindy said. "I mean that and you are right. We will stay here, for now."

Dad headed for the door.

"Oh, one more thing – no hanky-panky, you two!"

I heard him laughing on his way down the stairs. Mindy's face was very red, mortified did not really describe her expression adequately.

"He has a wicked sense of humour!" I quipped, my own face feeling slightly warm.

* * *

**_The following week  
Wednesday_**

**_Safehouse C_**

"Morning, Dave!"

"You look a little worse for wear, this morning."

"I didn't sleep too good."

"Maybe this will cheer you up," I suggested pushing a package towards Mindy. It was long, but not very tall and wrapped in purple paper. "Happy birthday, Mindy!"

I saw Mindy perk up.

"I'd forgotten," Mindy said with a smile. "I'm now twelve-years-old."

"Dad and I had bought this a couple of weeks ago. Mind you, after his visit last week, he suggested that you could actually do with a bra!"

I saw Mindy freeze and blush again.

"You sure?" Mindy asked, unconvinced.

"Yeah – they _are_ showing!"

Mindy went back to ripping off the paper, to cover her embarrassment. Once the paper was removed, Mindy was staring at a large, flat, highly polished, wooden box, around two and a half feet, in length. Mindy released the two catches, securing the lid and opened it, slowly.

"Fuck!" She exclaimed. I laughed; Mindy was speechless.

Inside the box were two, purple sword bags, made of silk.

"They are Ko-Wakizashi, a shorter version of Katana, but just as lethal!" I explained.

Mindy gave me an 'I know what they fucking are' kind of look, as she pulled the first Ko-Wakizashi from its silk bag and held it up in front of her. She moved the Ko-Wakizashi slowly, from side to side, as she removed the sword from the Saya and watched the lights reflect, off the highly polished blade. The sharp, mono steel blade was made from high carbon (T10) steel, with a 1.52 Shaku, no Hi and 1-centimetre Sori. The blade was finished with a straight Hamon and had been stone polished by hand. The point was a long O-Kissaski. The Habaki and Seppa were Red Copper. The blade was attached to a 16.5-centimetre, Battle Wrapped, Tsuka which was wrapped in a purple cotton Tsuka-ito with black ray-skin. The Ko-Wakizashi was finished off with black Fuchi, Kashira and Tsuba. The Ko-Wakizashi was housed in a matte black Saya with purple highlights. The Koikuchi and Kirigata were wood and the Sageo was of purple silk.

There was an identical Ko-Wakizashi, in the other sword bag. Mindy looked up to stare at me.

"I don't know what to say," Mindy said, a little dumbfounded.

"Well Dad thought that we would be fighting some very nasty, fuckers, so needed some better protection. Rather, he also insisted that I needed something more lethal than '_a pair of fucking batons_', so I have a pair, too!" I produced an almost identical wooden box. "Mind you, I have absolutely no idea how to use them."

"Well I do!" Mindy finally said, getting her speech back. She seemed mesmerised by the twin blades that she now held in her hands and I could see tears in her eyes.

"So, you like 'em," I asked, with a fiendish grin. "I could always get Dad to take them back..."

"You really want to die!" Mindy grinned.


	10. Moving On

**_Two weeks later  
Wednesday_**

Mindy was mad.

Like, I did not already know that!

"Hey asshole – I am _not_ mad!"

"Did I say that out loud? Sorry!"

By 'mad', I meant pissed off, rather than crazy.

It was a week until Christmas and Mindy was excited – apparently, she loved Christmas, although it would just be us, as Dad thought it still unsafe for us to leave the place. Mindy was getting impatient for action and I knew that Mindy was not grieving properly.

"You still complaining?"

"It fucking itches!" Mindy complained.

"Well, you needed one; so stop being such a Hit Pansy!"

Mindy had her first bra; but she was not happy about wearing it. However, Mindy was growing up and turning into a young woman – not that I had the faintest idea about any of that stuff, but I was doing what I could to help.

"Puberty sucks!"

"Well according to this book, you've got a whole lot more to worry about!" I quipped and Mindy glared dangerously.

"Give me that!" Mindy growled and seized the book from me.

"Why are you reading a book about puberty in girls?" Mindy demanded looking at the cover.

"Well – I wanted to know what I was in for, I suppose."

"I may be getting boobs and other stuff, but I'm still Mindy!"

"Yeah, but you will be a hormonal Mindy, which makes you a little scarier than normal."

"Not funny."

"Wait till you read pages twenty-two to twenty-eight – now that really sucks!"

I saw Mindy flicking through the pages, then she paused and her face turned pink. Then I saw her grimace and close the book.

"I am _not_ looking forward to any of that shit!"

* * *

Dad came by that afternoon.

He had been shopping. First, there was a small tree and some Christmas decorations and then lots of food for the fridge and freezer. Dad said he would come over on Christmas morning, if we did not mind – we said that we did not and would be glad of the company.

Mindy was now in a much happier mood as she started decorating the tree and hanging up decorations.

There had been no more news about the shooting, although it was rumoured that there were still some dirty cops about, in the employ of Ralph D'Amico. We had decided to go out, as Kick-Ass and Hit Girl, the night after Christmas and then we would take a week off and enjoy ourselves before maybe going out again on New Year's Eve.

I wanted this Christmas to be special for Mindy, as she had lost a lot over the past few weeks.

* * *

Dave was worried about me.

I was not _s_o devoid of emotions and feelings that I could not work _that _one out. I owed him big time, without Dave... Well, I did not want to think about that. It actually surprised me that he had not run off as soon as Marcus had been murdered. He had made the perfectly valid point that I was not going to be the best person to live with over the next few years! Yes, I found talking about my body changing, embarrassing – especially in front of Dave, but who else did I have? He had even taken the trouble to find a book on the subject!

I owed him I really did. However, what could I do to reward him? What did the average fifteen-year-old boy want?

Time to go visit the internet!

* * *

Okay!

The internet was a very freaky place; I found many cool and interesting things. However, some of the sites were most definitely, not suitable for a twelve-year-old girl – even me! I had seen many gory things in my life and inflicted many gruesome injuries, but some of what I saw was just _wrong_!

Nevertheless, I had placed some orders at some reputable sites, and one or two that were not very reputable and never mind, what I bought!

I already had a large gift for him, ordered a month before, at the beginning of November – with Mr Lizewski's help. In hindsight, the gift now seemed most appropriate, but just a few refinements were required. I had spent some time with Mr L, without Dave's knowledge, finding out some more about my partner.

* * *

**_That afternoon_**

I was fed up with sitting about doing nothing, so I decided to do some investigating.

Dave would kill me, but I _had_ to do something. So, while he was in the shower, I stuffed my hair up into a ball-cap and hid a Balisong in my right training shoe. It was still daylight, so a young girl would not stand out all that much. I grabbed a well-worn 'Hello Kitty' backpack that I had used until the previous year. It would add to my disguise.

I left the Safehouse and headed towards Manhattan.

* * *

The shower felt good; we had had a two-hour sparring session and I was hungry.

"Mindy – you hungry?"

There was no answer, so I went upstairs and pushed open the door to Mindy's bedroom.

"Mindy?"

I double-checked everywhere – nothing.

"I am going to skin her alive!"

* * *

**_Eastern Manhattan_**

I found something straight away.

Due to us hiding out, I had not been able to attend Marcus' funeral. Mr Lizewski had said that anybody looking for me, would scope out that location. He was right – as usual.

Knowing about surveillance and counter-surveillance allowed me to identify the watchers, before they identified me. They seemed to by NYPD, but I knew that they must have been crooked cops. I actually heard them discussing the situation. It seemed that they were fans of Gigante and not Marcus!

I took some photos with my cell and then headed across Manhattan towards Central Park. I decided that I would be safe there, as surveillance would be difficult. For extra security, my cell was turned off – Dave and I had ditched our original ones after leaving Marcus and had acquired new, clean ones.

..._...

I was being followed!

Obviously, I had not been as careful as I had hoped! I was on East 72nd Street heading northwest towards Central Park. I saw the reflection of two men in a passing cab; they were Cops, plain clothed, but still Cops! I had been seen them both at the cemetery stakeout. How could I have been so fucking stupid! I turned left down Madison Avenue, just across from the Ralph Lauren store.

I walked faster as I passed St James' Church, heading southwest, parallel to Central Park. As I crossed East 71st Street, the two men were still with me and I clocked an unmarked car, cheap bodywork, the man in it was watching me.

I was in danger!

I stayed in character and looked in windows, ignoring the Cops, as if I had never seen them. The windows allowed me to see my followers, without tipping them off that I knew they were there. I crossed the road opposite the Gucci store and then stopped outside the Cartier store. I paused for a minute gazing at some rather nice, but fucking extortionately priced jewellery!

I refocused on the reflections in the glass. The two Cops had stopped on the other side of the street and were casually looking around, never staring at me. The Cop in the car had pulled over twenty yards down the street. The net was tightening.

I took a deep breath and steadied my hands, which were sweating badly and shaking slightly. I was conscious of the Balisong in my shoe; would I need it? Could I get to it in time? Could I stab a Cop?

I continued walking and turned right at East 66th Street, heading towards Central Park. I crossed 5th Avenue and entered Central Park, up 65th Street. The Cops were a ways back, having not crossed 5th Avenue. I waited until a truck blocked their view of me and dived over a wall and rolled down a grass bank.

I quickly ran towards a pathway that ran under 65th Street and then ran along the path, heading south towards the Arsenal. I headed towards Central Park East Drive. I knew the park well, having spent many days there exercising with Daddy. It was already getting dark and very cold. I could hear the Cops shouting at each other as they searched for me.

"There she is!"

I turned in horror and saw a uniformed Cop pointing at me. I ran; I ran as fast as I could. I was out of options.

This was it; I stopped and reached down to my shoe.

* * *

A hand came across my mouth and I was dragged backwards into the undergrowth.

Oh fucking great; I am about to be fucking raped!

I attempted to fight, but my arms were pinned to my sides and whoever it was kept his face away from the back of my head.

"Keep still, you stupid girl!" A voice growled in my ear.

I stopped struggling as soon as I recognised the voice of Mr Lizewski.

If he was here, looking for me, then I had fucked up, badly!

* * *

**_Later that night_**

**_Safehouse C_**

Dave looked like he was going to blow a gasket.

I considered making a joke of it, but thought better of it!

"You trying to get yourself killed?" Dave asked and then he surprised me.

Dave pushed me roughly, onto the mat, but I tripped and fell backwards. For a fleeting moment, I thought that Dave was going to hit me; from my perspective, he looked pissed and somewhat scary.

"I needed to get information..." I said weakly.

"Mindy, you may not think that there is anybody left that cares about you; but you are wrong," Mr Lizewski said and made me feel very guilty. "It is not often that I get my son on the phone, in a panic, worried about somebody so bad, he couldn't form words."

The guilt was increasing, word by word; I felt so fucking small.

"Mindy – I don't want to lose you – I really don't. Please don't do that again," Dave said quietly before nodding to his father and heading upstairs to bed.

"Goodnight, Mindy," Mr Lizewski said heading downstairs.

I could not move; I just sat there on the mat.

* * *

It was well after eleven by the time I finally got up and left the mat.

I was seething.

Who did they think they were? I was Hit Girl; nobody talked down to me, nobody! I stormed upstairs.

"Dave!" I shouted.

"What do _you_ want?" A tired, but annoyed sounding Dave, demanded.

"I am _not_ going to stand for you treating me like a child; I am Hit Girl dammit!

Dave swung his legs out of bed and rubbed his eyes before looking at me.

"You finished?"

"For now..."

"Well _Hit Girl_, when you start acting like Hit Girl then I might start treating you like Hit Girl."

"What?" I yelled back.

"Damon died; you almost got yourself killed. Marcus died; you almost get yourself killed. You seeing a pattern here?"

"Go fuck yourself!"

"You need to grow the fuck up, Mindy," Dave said angrily and then I snapped.

I slapped him, hard, around the face. Dave just looked at me and shook his head sadly. Then he grabbed his clothes and shoes and headed downstairs. I was furious, with both Dave and myself.

Then I heard the door click shut, downstairs...

..._...

Oh God!

What had I done?

As I stared around the darkened Safehouse, it all seemed to close in on me. I started hyperventilating.

I was alone.

* * *

I sat on the stairs and pulled on my shoes, having already pulled on my trousers and a shirt.

I needed some fresh air.

I had only got part way down the stairs to the outside door when I heard a scream.

"_Dave_!"

It was a loud, panicked scream. Like that which I had inly heard twice before. Once when Damon was burning and then again, when Marcus had been shot. It did not sound like Hit Girl; it sounded like a scared twelve-year-old girl.

..._...

Well, you learn something new every day. In this case I had learnt that Mindy had abandonment issues. Which was understandable considering her past.

She had been abandoned by her Mother.

She had been abandoned by her Father.

She had been abandoned by her Guardian.

Now she thought that I was abandoning her. She was panicking about being left alone. Not exactly the 'I've got three million dollars in a suitcase' girl!

I bolted back up the stairs and found Mindy on the mat, tears streaming down her face. As soon as she saw me, she jumped up and ran over to me, then hugged me tightly. She was sobbing; it looked like her grief had finally caught up with her.

..._...

Then she punched me.

"What was _that_ for?"

"Because you left me and because I'm furious that you made me cry!"

"I never left you, Mindy; I just needed some fresh air. Crying is not a weakness, Mindy; it is a necessity."

"I'd say that I was sorry, but that would be a sign of weakness."

"Just promise me that you won't go out alone again and we'll move on."

"I promise."


	11. Christmas

**_The following morning  
Thursday_**

**_Safehouse C_**

I slept badly.

I was ashamed with myself for being weak and crying again, in front of Dave. I was not allowed to show weakness, dammit.

"You getting out of bed, this morning?" Dave asked with a smile, peering into my room.

"No!"

"Why?"

"I feel bad about last night."

"So you should; but last night never happened, okay?"

I smiled at Dave. He really was too good to me!

* * *

"What the fuck was that for?"

"Nothing!" Dave replied with a smirk.

I picked myself up from the mat, where he had kicked me. I was certain that he was getting me back for the previous night. I could take it, but could he? I snap-kicked towards Dave without any warning and, to his credit, he tried to intercept the kick.

"That hurt, just a bit!" Dave groaned, gripping his thigh.

"Pussy!"

..._...

There had been no more mention of my little escapade into Manhattan and I was very happy for it to stay that way! I would have to be more careful and grown-up about what I did. I had a feeling that Dave would not tolerate me pushing things too far and I did not want him to leave.

I had learnt something, too; I could not bear to be alone. Until that night, I had had no idea that being left alone, being abandoned, could have that effect on me. I was appalled that I had a weakness – Hit Girl was not allowed to have a weakness.

What other, hidden, weaknesses might I have?

* * *

**_A week later  
Thursday_**

**_Christmas Day_**

I woke Mindy up very gently.

Waking Mindy up, any other way tended to be painful, or could even be life threatening!

Her eyes opened and focussed on me.

"Morning!" She said tiredly.

"Happy Christmas, Mindy," I said.

Mindy's eyes widened.

"Christmas!" She shouted jumping up and giving me a big hug. "Merry Christmas, Dave!"

"Mindy, I can't breathe!" I choked out.

"Oh, sorry!" Mindy said jumping back and letting me breathe again.

..._...

Several minutes later, Mindy bounced down the stairs and then skidded to a halt, still in her pyjamas.

"What the fuck is that?" She demanded.

A long box was on the mat, wrapped in purple paper. Mindy looked like she might explode with excitement.

"You get any more excited, you'll piss yourself!" I quipped.

Mindy glared at me for a second and then she dived onto the mat and started to attack the wrapping on the box, which did _not_ take very long. Inside the paper was a long, glossy, black box. I had a distinct feeling that Mindy knew exactly what was in the box, as I could see that her hands were shaking as she carefully eased the lid open and then she started to squeal.

..._...

Inside the black box was a long, thin, purple bag, made of silk. Mindy, very carefully, her hands still shaking opened the top of the bag and eased out the contents. Her eyes went wide and I could see tears forming in her green eyes. Her mouth started opening and closing like a goldfish, which while comical, meant that Dad and I had picked the perfect gift for her.

Mindy eased the Katana from the bag and carefully stood up, and held it out in front of her with two hands. She moved the Katana very slowly, as she checked out every inch and then removed the sword from the Saya and watched the lights reflect off the highly polished blade. The sharp, mono steel blade was made from high carbon (T10) steel, with a 2.80 Shaku, double Hi and 1.7-centimetre Sori. The blade was finished with a straight Hamon and had been stone polished by hand. The point was a long O-Kissaski. The Habaki and Seppa were Red Copper. The blade was attached to a twenty-six-centimetre Tsuka that was wrapped in a, purple cotton, Tsuka-ito with black ray-skin. The Katana was finished off with black Fuchi, Kashira and Tsuba. The Katana was housed in a matte black Saya, with purple highlights. The Koikuchi and Kirigata were wood and the Sageo was purple silk.

Mindy gently weaved the sword, through the air and watched the light, as it glinted off the blade. The sword perfectly matched her, Ko-Wakizashi. After a few minutes, I asked Mindy if she and her new sword needed some time together, in private! Mindy blushed and replaced the sword in its Saya, and gently laid it back in the black box.

"Who?" She asked.

"Dad and I," I replied. We thought it would be the right present for her. Mindy ran over and hugged me tightly. When she finally let go, there were tears in her eyes again.

"I don't know what to say, but thanks," Mindy stammered.

"Just seeing you with that sword is enough for me," I replied, smiling.

Mindy suddenly bolted back upstairs and came back down with a large present held in both hands. She placed a large box in front of me; it was wrapped in green paper with yellow ribbon.

* * *

Dave laughed when he saw it.

"Come on, Kick-Ass, open it already!" I growled and jumped from foot to foot; I could not keep still. I hoped that he liked them.

"Wow, that's heavy," Dave, said as he hefted the box.

* * *

Mindy was jumping about; talk about a hyperactive child!

I pulled off the ribbon and attacked the paper; Mindy was very good at wrapping things! Under the paper was a plain, but solid, white box. I opened the box carefully; knowing Mindy, it could be absolutely anything! Inside the box were two hard, black cases. I pulled the top one out and placed it on the table in front of me. Mindy looked like she had ants up her fucking backside!

I opened the case.

"Wow!" I could not say anything else, but the resident weapons specialist could not keep still, or silent, a moment longer.

"It's a custom Glock 17 Gen 4 chambered in nine-millimetre Parabellum. In the case are three seventeen-round magazines, a speed loader, a cleaning kit and a manual," Mindy spat out at one hundred rounds per second.

The pistol had a subdued green frame, matte black slide and a subdued yellow backstrap.

I checked the other case; it held an identical pistol and accessories. Mindy then passed over another, smaller box; wrapped in the same way as the larger one. I opened it; inside was what looked like a small flashlight, except that it had a rail, which allowed it to fit beneath the barrel of the Glock pistol. Again, my weapons specialist, chipped in.

"It's a Glock GTL-52, combination Tactical Light and Laser Illuminator. It has both a visible laser and an infrared laser, which can only be seen when you wear NVGs. The IR laser and light are dimmable," Mindy finished almost out of breath and calmed down, slightly.

I was a bit shocked, but very pleased, with the pistols.

"Thanks, Mindy; they're cool," I said, then got up and gave her a big hug and a quick kiss on the cheek.

She started to blush, furiously.

"I have my own custom pistols; now you have yours. You will probably only carry one pistol, but it gives you a spare and you never know when you might need to take two pistols out into the field," Mindy announced walking over to the mat.

* * *

"Dave, take your clothes off," Mindy said and started removing her pyjamas right there on the mat.

"Err, Mindy – what are you doing?" I demanded.

"We're gonna have sex!" Mindy deadpanned.

I just stood there in amazement.

"I've got us some combat suits, jeez!" Mindy laughed.

"Thank God for that!" I breathed.

"I should be insulted, that you do not want to have sex with me, but I suppose that it would not be all that appropriate, would it?" Mindy laughed.

"No it would not."

"These cost a lot of money – so they better be fucking worth it!" Mindy said, dragging a large box out of a cupboard.

She had stripped down to knickers and a sports bra. I stripped down to my shorts and watched as Mindy pulled out several items from the box. Some items were purple, while others were green and yellow.

Mindy passed me over what looked like a two-part wetsuit, except it was nothing like the one that I had worn previously.

"The latest in flexible armour, synthetic composite Kevlar. I have one too – it is flexible so should allow for my, err, expanding body!"

Mindy blushed slightly as she pulled on her two part undersuit; I did the same with mine. Both were black in colour and hugged our bodies. I noticed that Mindy seemed to be developing some curves, which I had not previously been aware of until that moment.

"You err, look good in that," Mindy said quietly before fading into an embarrassed silence.

"So do you!" I said and Mindy averted her gaze.

"Here," She said, passing over some more solid-looking pieces of armour. "Greaves for your legs and knee guards."

The greaves were in two pairs, which attached to the back and front of the lower leg and fastened with strong Velcro straps. Mindy had the same, although hers were purple, while mine were green with yellow highlights. We both had black, ankle-height boots that fitted perfectly with the greaves.

"Armoured soles; nails and blades will not penetrate them," Mindy explained. Next came thigh armour in the form of two panels that wrapped around the outside of each thigh and secured with Velcro straps, connecting to the knee pads and with upper attachments that would clip to the utility belts once we had those on. The armour panel's colour scheme matched our greaves.

Mindy now passed over a much larger part of the suit. This was in the form of a zip-up jacket that was made up of four amour panels for me, but eight smaller panels for Mindy. The jacket was black, while the armour panels matched the thigh and greave armour panels.

"I have smaller panels to allow better flexibility when I am fighting," Mindy explained.

We each attached armoured shoulder pads to the jacket. These then attached to moulded armour that extended down the upper arms and over the elbows. Again, these were attached with strong Velcro straps and were in our relevant colour scheme.

Mindy passed over a pair of gauntlets. These were armoured and extended almost to the elbow and had solid armour on the front of the lower arm and over the wrist.

"The gauntlets are stab resistant and can grab hold of a double edged blade without injury."

I pulled on the gauntlets and flexed my hands. The fit was comfortable and the back of my fist formed a solid piece of armour that would really hurt whoever I hit. Mindy's gauntlets were lighter and more suitable to her fighting style.

The utility belts came next. They were black and clipped around the waist, and then the thigh panels attached to the belts. The belts had various attachments for pistols, knives, ammunition and communications equipment. For me there was also groin protection that clipped to the utility belt.

"We can decide on layout for the belts later. We also have the option to attach equipment to the thigh panels. Not to mention that you have attachments for your back armour," Mindy went on trying not to look as I adjusted the groin protection. Now comes the best bit!"

Mindy passed over my mask.

It felt awesome; it was soft and flexible, and incorporated armoured sections to protect the important parts of the head and face. The mask was full face, which included protection for my eyes.

"The lenses should be your prescription – not easy to obtain the lenses, or your prescription!" Mindy chuckled.

Mindy's mask covered her head down to the crown of her nose. Again, there were armoured sections for added protection. She retained her wig, while the mask replaced the domino mask that she previously wore, although the eye section of the mask was all black.

"You know, Mindy, if you were a couple years older..." I said approvingly and saw Mindy blush bright pink, then fumble and almost drop two radios.

* * *

The combat suits were awesome and would allow us to go in fast and hit hard.

We were poking at each other's suit, examining every detail, when the chime went, indicating that somebody had entered the building. Mindy motioned for me to hide by the stairs while she went over by the door.

The main door slowly opened and a hand appeared. Mindy seized hold of the wrist behind the hand, but then found herself pulled towards the intruder and then thrown back onto the mat. She landed with a short scream, before instantly scrambling back to her feet, but then she froze.

"Not bad, Hit Girl!" Dad announced closing the door behind him.

"Dad! For fuck's sake!" I exclaimed.

"I see the suits fit – you need to work on your predictability, Mindy," Dad said conversationally and helping himself to a coffee.

"Mr Lizewski – that was dangerous!" Mindy growled, pulling off her mask. "We could have shot you!"

"Never going to happen!" Dad growled back.

I saw respect in Mindy's eyes. It was not often that somebody got the better of Hit Girl.

"That hurt, but not as much as it normally would," Mindy admitted rubbing her backside. "The suit absorbed most of the impact."

* * *

**Author's Note:**_I hope I have described Mindy's new Katana Sword accurately. Describing the sword's features in English did not do it justice, so I used the Japanese terms for what I see as a very powerful weapon, which deserves respect. For those who do not know about Katana Swords, I will explain some of the terms described in the story:_

_The Shaku is a traditional measurement – 2.80 = 84.80-centimetres._  
_The Hi is a groove at the top of the blade._  
_The Sori is the curvature of the blade._  
_The Hamon is a pattern created by heat-treating the blade._  
_The Kissaski is the type of tip at the end of the sword. O being the biggest._  
_The Habaki keeps the sword from falling out of the scabbard (Saya)._  
_The Seppa are installed top and bottom of the hand guard (Tsuba)._  
_The Tsuka is the hilt or handle._  
_The Tsuka-ito us a material used to wrap the handle or hilt._  
_The Fuchi is a hilt collar between the Tsuka and the Tsuba._  
_The Tsuba is a hand guard._  
_The Kashira is a butt cap or pommel on the end of the Tsuka._  
_The Saya is the wooden scabbard for the blade._  
_The Koikuchi is the mouth of the Saya._  
_The Kirigata is a knob on the side of the Saya for attaching the Sageo._  
_The Sageo is the cord used to tie the Saya to a belt._

_If any of the above is incorrect, please let me know and I will correct the mistakes._


	12. Adversary

**_Five days later  
Tuesday_**

**_New Year's Eve_**

We had spent the past few days getting used to our new suits and equipment.

Mindy adored her Katana and I was surprised that she did not take the damn thing to bed with her! I had learnt to strip, clean, oil and reassemble my Glock pistols to both Mindy's _and_ Dad's satisfaction. The suits were actually quite heavy and both Mindy and I had struggled for the first couple of days. For me, it was not so bad, as I had been building my muscles. Mindy, though – well, she would never admit it, but she would sweat herself inside that suit until she almost collapsed. I had to watch her and ensure that she did not do too much, too quickly.

"Mindy, you may be Hit Girl, but you still have the body of a young girl, remember that," I cautioned.

"I know and thanks for caring, Kick-Ass!"

Mindy was not letting up, not to mention that she was training with both of her new swords together, as well as wearing the suit.

* * *

"Anybody ever tell you that you are a very stubborn young girl?"

"Only you would dare!" Mindy chuckled. "You ready yet, Ass-Kick?"

"Got your bra on?" I teased and received a nasty glare.

"Don't need it when I'm wearing the suit – besides they don't move around all that much!"

"Probably a little too much information, Hit Girl!" I laughed.

"They're boobs – can't ignore 'em, they're a part of me, whether I like it or not!"

* * *

It was an hour before 2015.

The streets were filled with revellers, most of whom had consumed more than a few drinks!

So far, there had been no trouble, but I knew that the night would not expire before something occurred and I was not wrong. Kick-Ass and I had kept to the shadows, not that anybody would have really noticed us, as Kick-Ass looked nothing like Kick-Ass and nobody really knew what I looked like anyway!

Many people were wearing costumes, too, which just made us blend in sort of. We also talked. Mr Lizewski wanted me to move in with Dave and him. I had to admit that I had no reason not to; the Safehouse was never intended to be a permanent home. We had also discussed keeping ourselves undercover, too. People were out looking for me, and most probably Dave, now, too.

Kick-Ass had made some very good suggestions, but I had responded badly to one suggestion.

"Maybe you could cut your hair?"

"You can go fuck yourself, Ass-Kick!"

"Okay – no cutting hair!"

I had actually laughed at his reply; I was very attached to my hair, but I knew that he had only suggested it as a possible option. I knew that Dave cared about me and I cared about him, too.

Mr Lizewksi had explained that he could paint the spare room for me.

"You like purple?" He had asked facetiously.

* * *

We were about to enter a new, New Year and I hoped that it would be a better year for us both, especially Mindy.

Mindy had not mentioned Marcus at all, in the past few days, not once. I knew that she was burying the emotions, which could not be good for the girl. I would try to talk with her later on.

My thoughts were quickly brought to a halt when Hit Girl drew her Katana from her back. I drew my own blades and studied the scene unfolding before us.

"What the bloody hell are you supposed to be?" A voice called out.

The voice was very British and precise.

"Your worst nightmare, cunt!" Hit Girl growled.

"Bloody Americans!" The man continued, seemingly oblivious to our blades shimmering under the streetlights.

Hit Girl stepped forwards and I with her, swords at the ready. The man smiled, he was tall, maybe six-foot tall and about fifty years of age. He was balding and wore a smart tailored suit and open-necked shirt.

"Now is not the time for fighting young lady," He said, looking at Hit Girl. Next, he looked at me, "I would suggest that you take your bitch on heat and keep it on a short lead."

I sensed danger and unpredictability here. Two of the many things that Hit Girl had been drumming into me over the past weeks. She herself stowed her Katana and I followed suit with my Ko-Wakizashi.

"Well done!" The man said and waved to his minions who were spread about him, armed with G36C compact assault rifles. "We will meet again. Goodnight."

The man then climbed into a dark green Jaguar XJR and roared off up the street.

* * *

**_A mile further north_**

"Well, that was, err, interesting!"

Hit Girl did not answer me straight away; she seemed to be brooding over what had occurred.

"We did the right thing – walking away, I mean."

"There was too much firepower there; it would have been fucking suicide," I commented.

"Exactly!"

..._...

We continued walking until we were a few blocks from Times Square. There was only a couple of minutes to go as we climbed a building's fire escape and sat on the thankfully empty roof. We were tired, after all the walking.

"You did good with those short legs!" I quipped.

"We need to talk about boundaries, you and me, Ass-Kick!"

We could hear the chanting from below us.

"Five – four – three – two – one!"

Then Hit Girl surprised the fuck out of me as she jumped up and planted her lips on mine.

* * *

I hope those two are enjoying themselves out there.

Since Alice died, I had never really been fond of the holidays. I joined in for Dave's sake and I would again for young Mindy's sake. She really was a delightful girl, despite her skill set! I had really felt for her, losing the only two people left in her life.

Thankfully, the girl had Dave to lean on. I would admit that there were times that I never expected Dave to amount to much. That is harsh, but that was the way Dave was, however I am proud as hell for my kid!

Now, I seem to have acquired a daughter, which was why I was gutting the spare bedroom that had not had anybody in it for many years.

It was a mess, but I had promised Dave and Mindy that I would clean it up.

* * *

"A Happy New Year, to you too, Hit Girl!"

Hit Girl looked a little awkward and what skin I could see of her face matched the colour of her mask.

"Just a friendly Happy New Year kiss, nothing more!" Hit Girl mumbled before heading towards the fire escape.

I grinned as I followed.

* * *

**_Thursday, January 1st, 2015_**

**_Safehouse C_**

It had been an interesting night out!

Once back in the Safehouse, we had removed our combat suits and weapons, and then showered. We were exhausted, but we did not feel like sleeping. We both lay on the mat, resting. Mindy was deep in thought.

"Who was that walking cliché?"

"Huh?" I asked.

"That Brit, the walking cliché. He drove a Jaguar for fuck's sake! Not to mention he was cool as the proverbial cucumber, despite us staring him down. I know he had his minions with automatic weapons, but still! The bastard might as well have ended the conversation with: 'oh, yes, it's good to be bad'!"

"You like that YouTube clip, too, huh!"

"It looks like we may have a new adversary, Kick-Ass."

"You worried?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Daddy warned me about Brits – they can be conniving bastards!"

"How so?"

"The average home grown American criminal makes mistakes – the Brits, however, tend to be more precise and their plans often work perfectly," Mindy explained, still staring at the ceiling. "They have a weakness, though; their schemes are often overly complicated and therefore open to being breeched."

"Sounds like we have our work cut out!"

"I'm tired, time for bed," Mindy said and jumped up from the mat. "Night, partner!"

"Night, partner!" I replied.

* * *

**_Later that afternoon_**

"You fancy increasing your geekiness?"

"I have no 'geekiness' to increase!" Mindy retorted, but her tone said that she did not believe a word of what she had just said.

"Let's go down the comic shop, might meet Marty; you'd like him."

"Okay, I suppose my current comics are a _bit_ dated..." Mindy mused.

* * *

**_Atomic Comics_**

"Well, well, well."

"Miss me," I asked with a grin at Marty and Erika.

"Not really. Who's the short ass?" Marty asked, grinning back and looking at Mindy who seemed a little apprehensive.

"Guys, this is Mindy – long, long story, but basically she's coming to live with Dad and me."

"Hi, Mindy; I'm Marty and this is Erika."

"Hi!" Mindy said looking a bit shy, which was rather a surprise.

We both pushed into the booth. I sat beside Erika and Mindy sat beside Marty.

"So, you two are still together?" I asked, causing Erika to blush.

"Of course!" Marty confirmed. "Anyway, where the fuck have you been?"

"Again, it's a long story, but I've been out of town since the beginning of December."

Mindy was squirming in her seat.

"How old are you?" Erika asked curiously.

"Twelve," Mindy replied somewhat defensively.

"Just asking, I meant no offensive."

"Sorry, didn't mean to snap; it's been a crap couple of months."

"No problem," Erika replied with a smile before turning to Dave. "You talked to Katie?"

"Not for a few weeks."

"Talking about me?"

I span around to see Katie.

"Where the fuck have you been asshole?" Katie demanded.

"Out of town, just got back, actually."

"New girlfriend?" Katie asked, looking at Mindy who scowled.

I laughed.

"Yeah, right!" I replied. "Mindy is staying with Dad and me for a while. Mindy, this is Katie."

"Hi, Mindy. I'm Dave's girlfriend," Katie said pointedly.

"Hi!"

Mindy, obviously, was not much into talking that afternoon. Eventually, we bought some comics and headed back to the Safehouse. Was Katie jealous of me having Mindy around? Had no idea why, Mindy was just a kid!

It was good to see Marty again; I had missed him.

* * *

_**Safehouse C**_

"What's up, Mindy?"

"That who you were fucking?"

I laughed at Mindy.

"Yeah, we fucked!"

"Oh. Erika was nice and so was Marty – bit of a geek, though. Must be why you like him so much."

"I had hoped not to run into Katie, bit awkward!"

"You think!"

"You feeling threatened?" I teased.

"What… No… Why would you think that?" Mindy blustered.

"No reason."


	13. Torture

**_Two weeks later  
Thursday morning_**

**_Dave's House_**

We had discussed our potential new adversary with Mr Lizewski.

He was concerned, but not overly so, which was a surprise. On a more important subject, my new room was almost ready; it was painted quite tastefully – at least I thought so!

"Ewww!" Dave commented when he first saw it.

"It's awesome!" I almost squealed.

Two opposite walls were painted purple, with the other two, pink. The woodwork was white and the carpet was a pleasant mauve.

The room was still empty, but furniture was on its way.

* * *

**_That afternoon_**

**_Safehouse C_**

"What are you doing?"

"Training, what does it look like?"

"That bō-staff is mine!"

"I thought it was time that I learnt to use the thing."

"You are doing reasonably well!" Mindy said, sounding a little surprised.

"Well, I have seen somebody using it before, and she seemed to know what she was doing."

Mindy blushed slightly, but smiled.

"You're holding it wrong, come here!"

* * *

**_That evening_**

**_Dave's House_**

"Oh really!" Mindy exclaimed from the easy chair.

I looked up to see her face going very red. She was reading a comic – specifically a Kick-Ass comic.

"What's up?" I asked, knowing exactly what was wrong.

"These comics are quite explicit, aren't they?" Mindy muttered. "I mean, they have us, well you and me, you know..."

"Kick-Ass is fucking Hit Girl?" I chuckled.

"Yeah," Mindy said, turning the comic sideways. "Is that actually doable? I know I'm flexible but you sticking your 'whatever' into my 'whatever', from _that_ angle?"

"A lot of things are possible, Mindy."

"Are you really that big?" Mindy asked, still blushing.

It was now my turn to blush, as I looked over Mindy's shoulder.

"Not even close!" I replied. "Well, _your_ tits _definitely_ aren't that big!"

* * *

**_That night_**

We went exploring.

We hit pay dirt very fast, thanks to some intelligence provided by Mr L. Where he had acquired that intelligence from, I never asked! Needless to say, we were now approaching the apartment of a certain man who might be able to provide us with some information on the British cliché from the other night.

We stood in the alley and examined the fire escape that ran up the side of the building. Our target lived on the third floor, so we started climbing.

* * *

The man was sitting in a chair, watching the television.

I slipped through the window from the fire escape and approached the man. Kick-Ass was slipping in via the bedroom, one room over.

The man started as I held my Katana to his neck.

"I wouldn't move, if I were you," I growled.

"All clear!" Kick-Ass advised, coming out of the bedroom.

I glared at the man.

"Now, you are going to answer some questions!" I growled at the man.

The man glared at me.

"Go fuck yourself, bitch!"

"Be nice!" Kick-Ass growled. The man had a British accent, which told us that we were on the right track. I removed my Katana from his throat.

"Go fuck yer, bitch, wanker!"

Kick-Ass drove his fist into the man's stomach. The man doubled over and fell to the floor.

"A taster of what's coming to ya!" Kick-Ass snarled.

* * *

**_A different Safehouse_**

"Where are we?"

"Safehouse G."

"How many of these things do you have?"

"Hit Girl must keep some secrets, Kick-Ass!" Hit Girl laughed as she pushed our bound and gagged captive through to a back office.

The man was then secured to a chair and I looked up at Mr L.

"Thanks for your help," I said. "I can take it from here."

"You let me know if I can help, I'll see you two in the morning."

* * *

The man screamed and the blood flew.

"Nobody can hear you scream!"

"I will tell you nothing, you fucking crazy bitch!" The man replied, spitting out blood from his mouth.

"I will ask you once again: what is your name?"

We knew his name, but we just wanted to show him what we were capable of doing. Or rather, what _I_ was capable of doing; Kick-Ass was a little bit freaked out by it all. I had started with simple punches to the man's face. The armour of my gauntlets worked much better than knuckle-dusters, like those that I had worn previously.

Now it was time to escalate. The man had been secured in the chair, with his arms strapped to the arms. His palms were facing downwards and currently gripped the wooden arms of the chair. I had respect for the man, he showed no fear, yet.

..._...

I drew one of my throwing knives and plunged the sharp end through the back of the man's hand and into the chair's arm. He screamed again as the blood dripped from his hand onto the plastic sheet that covered the floor of the garage.

"Ready for the other hand?"

"Do your fucking worst, you inhuman psychopath!"

"You're complimenting me; keep it up and I'll start blushing!"

I drew three more knives and planted them one after the other into the man's other hand and then his upper legs.

"I'll let those sink in – back soon!"

* * *

"You seem to be enjoying yourself!" I asked in the next room.

"I am!" Hit Girl replied. "I haven't done anything like this since Daddy was still around."

"He seems to be immune to your techniques," I commented.

"Most probably military trained in counter-interrogation."

"You have a plan?"

"Oh, yeah. I'm still on chapter one, I have not got to the nasty chapters yet!"

"That worries me to a certain extent – can I have a go?"

Hit Girl seemed a little taken aback by my request.

"Kick-Ass can have a nasty side, you know."

"He has one; it was that guy with a jetpack and Gatling guns strapped to his back," Hit Girl replied with a smirk. "Knock yourself out, rookie!"

* * *

The man was grimacing with the pain.

With his arms pinned with straps and his hands pinned by Hit Girl's knives, not to mention the two knives in his thighs, the man was shaking.

"Hi! You know who I am, but I don't know who you are?"

"Kick-Ass – what a pleasure! I'm a big fan of yours, but I know that you'd never hurt anybody – not like your crazy midget friend!"

"Oh, that was the old Kick-Ass," I growled and swung a baton down on the man's left arm, which shattered.

* * *

Oh, wow!

I jumped when Kick-Ass brought his baton down. Talk about out of character! I would never have expected that of him. He was not kidding, either: '...that was the old Kick-Ass...' I had to remember that!

Damn if I did not enjoy watching Kick-Ass, as he hurt that man. I had never felt a feeling like that before, but I liked it!

"Jeremy Wood, my fucking name is Jeremy Wood!" The man yelled through gritted teeth. "You broke my fucking arm!"

"How about some other questions?" Kick-Ass continued, barely missing a beat.

The man stared at the baton now resting on his right arm. He then nodded.

That fucking asshole; he gave in to Kick-Ass!

* * *

**_Three hours later_**

The man was dead.

We had a name: Richard Atkinson. He had a house, in East Hampton and offices in Manhattan. Mr Lizewski would obtain some more in depth information on the man.

I was happy; we had had an interesting evening.

* * *

**Four days later  
Monday**

**Dave's House**

My bedroom was complete!

I had a large double bed, with pink sheets that were complimented by a purple and cream, duvet and pillow set.

I squealed; I loved it!

"Don't get any fucking ideas, Mindy!" Dave said with a smirk.

I also had some drawers and a cupboard for my clothes. Many of my clothes had been abandoned at Marcus', but considering I was growing, I had decided to buy all new clothes. I actually had not noticed how much I had grown in the preceding three months, since Daddy had died. It was only when I had tried on my old, original, Hit Girl costume and found that none of it fitted my body, anywhere!

Dave had had a good laugh at that. Mr Lizewski, who was insisting that I call him James, had also provided me with a computer and a TV. I had tried to give him some money, but he had refused. He had also told me that the internet access was encrypted and routed via various points that would mask any activity on the connection.

"That does not mean you can start downloading porn, Mindy!" Dave quipped, laughing at my stunned expression.

Okay, I had started to get curious, after reading that comic and Dave had almost caught me 'doing some research' as I had tried to call it, but Dave was not buying! That had to be the most humiliating experience ever! I had seen men naked before, even cut off a few appendages, but I had never taken the time to examine what hung there.

Dave said it was my hormone's and he added that he used to spend many, many evenings finding fun videos to 'jerk off to', as Dave had put it, while talking with Marty over the phone. Now, despite being Hit Girl, I found that somewhat disturbing and generally very disgusting!

"So you haven't discovered masturbation yet?" Dave laughed, running away as I threw my shoes at him, feeling suddenly very warm on my cheeks.

* * *

**_The following morning  
Tuesday_**

**_Dave's House_**

I was pleased to be staying at Dave's house.

Things felt different and it made me feel more like a girl. Sounds stupid, but staying at the Safehouse had me in 'Hit Girl' mode, which meant that I rarely rested properly.

My first night in my new bed had to be the best night's sleep that I could remember. I had slept so well that I had only awoken when Dave started to prod me in my side, rather painfully.

"Hey, that could lead to a dangerous response from Mindy Macready!" I growled.

"Oh, now if it were Hit Girl then I might have been worried, but if it's only Mindy Macready..." Dave laughed.

"Very fucking funny!"

"You look like you slept well."

"I did thanks; this bed is _so_ comfy."

"Glad to hear it!"

* * *

"Do I really need to get up," Mindy moaned.

Only her head was visible and she did look comfortable. I was a little surprised, as I had never known Mindy to _ever_, prefer bed than being up and training.

"That's kind of out of character for Hit Girl."

"Right now, I'm not Hit Girl, I'm just a normal twelve-year-old girl called Mindy Macready."

"I would not go as far as to call you _normal_..."

"Hey, asshole, I have the same bits as any other girl!"

"You_ look_ normal, but you just _aren't_ normal!"

Mindy laughed.

"So you want me to leave you in bed, then?"

"Yeah, why not."

"I'll leave you to pleasure yourself, then; just don't forget to wash your hands afterwards!"

Mindy threw back the covers and chased me out of her room; Hit Girl was back!

"Lizewski!" Mindy yelled. "You are going to die!"


	14. Letters

**_Three days later  
Friday evening_**

**_The Lizewski House_**

There was a knock on the door.

While not exactly out of the ordinary, it was rare for us to get visitors. That evening it was just me and Dave in the house, as Mr Lizewski was working. Dave was in the kitchen while I was having another read of the comics, which Dave tried in vain to point out were too old for me!

I stood on my toes to peer out the spyhole in the door.

There was a man standing on the porch. He did not seem particularly threatening, indeed the man looked old – well, everybody looked old to me, even Marcus and he had not even reached forty. The man who stood on the porch seemed to be early fifties by my judgement. He had a case in his left hand. He also looked like a Cop.

Considering that I was _not_ about to shoot somebody on Mr Lizewski's porch, I eased open the door gently.

..._...

"What do you want?"

"Hello, Mindy, may I come in?"

I froze – the man knew my name; he knew where I lived. All my training told me to pull out a gun and shoot the man, dead. However, something deep inside of me told me not to, so I did not shoot the man, nevertheless, I did seize a concealed Glock 26 from beside the door and stuffed it into the back of my trousers as I opened the door.

I stopped in the centre of the living room and faced the man, who had closed the front door behind him after coming into the house. He smiled at me, which made me feel a little strange. Then he spoke.

"You not only look like Kathleen, you sound like her, too."

..._...

"What's going on?" Dave asked, coming into the living room, standing to my left, and resting his right hand on the Glock, telling me that he had noticed it. "Who's Kathleen?"

I knew exactly who Kathleen was!

"Kathleen is Mindy's mother," The man said. "My name is Jack Bay, Mindy, and you must be Dave."

Dave looked a little surprised now, as did I. Why was this man mentioning my long dead, mother? Not to mention that he knew who Dave was.

"Could we sit down?" Jack suggested politely.

Dave nodded and pushed me towards the couch, while jack sat in a chair. Dave followed and sat beside me, keeping his hand close to the pistol.

"I am no threat to you, Mindy, nor you Dave, but if you feel safer, keep that pistol close," Jack said smoothly before passing over an identity folder. "That is who I am."

I took the folder and opened it.

..._...

The man's name was indeed, Jack Bay and the photo, obviously taken a few years previously, matched the man sitting before me. The folder also stated that Jack Bay was a Police Officer with the rank of Captain, in the Chicago Police Department.

"A little out of your jurisdiction, aren't you?" Dave asked.

Jack laughed.

"I started as a Cop, right here in New York would you believe; I was NYPD for many years – taught a young rookie Cop all he knew, before I moved to Chicago about a year before you were born, Mindy."

"You're talking about Damon, aren't you?" Dave asked, as I seemed to have lost the ability to talk.

"Yes, Dave, I am. I knew Mindy's father a long time ago and I also knew her mother, Kathleen. Mindy is the image of her mother."

I felt myself blushing and I actually enjoyed the compliment.

"Why are you here?" Dave asked, echoing my own thoughts.

..._...

"I am basically the delivery boy!"

Jack then removed a large brown folder from his case.

"I am _so_ sorry that I have taken so long to bring this to you; but I only found out a couple of weeks ago about Damon. I offer you my condolences, Mindy."

Mindy nodded her thanks, still at a loss for words.

Jack then proceeded to open the large folder and from it, he produced three smaller envelopes, all of which were sealed. Jack selected one and passed it to Mindy.

"That is a letter from Marcus; to be passed to you, if anything should happen to him. He updated it only a week before his heinous murder," Jack said in a tone that said in no uncertain terms what he thought of the manner of Marcus' death. "Marcus explained to me that you might be staying with Dave and before you try and deny anything, I know all about the both of you and your, err, extra-curricular activities as Kick-Ass and Hit Girl!"

I felt Dave brace up at the mention of our alter-egos.

* * *

"Take it easy, you two – I've known about Mindy's darker side for many years; Damon never was very good at keeping secrets from me!" Jack explained with a chuckle. "I am glad to see that you have been able to team-up with somebody that obviously cares for you, Mindy."

"Dave has a lot of potential and we look after each other. That is why I have moved in here, so I am not alone," Mindy said quietly.

It was the first time that Mindy had spoken since we had sat down. Jack then passed an envelope to me.

"Marcus left an envelope for you too, Dave. I also have custody of an envelope that your father, Mindy, passed to me a month before he died."

Jack passed over the final envelope. Mindy just sat there, hugging the two envelopes.

"Now, I will leave you two kids alone. Here is my card with my contact details," Jack said, before getting up from the chair and heading for the door. "I have a train to catch."

"Thank you, err, Jack," Mindy said, a little unsure of herself.

"Thanks," I said getting up and following Jack to the door. "This will mean a lot to Mindy. I have her welfare at the top of my list."

"Look after her, Dave," Jack said as he walked out the front door. "That girl is all that is left of what could have been a perfect family."

..._...

I returned to the couch to find Mindy still hugging her two envelopes.

"You going to open them?" I asked tentatively, with a serious expression.

"I don't know... I don't know what to do... Dave, I know this sounds stupid, but will you stay with me while I open them?"

I considered a joke, but decided that it was not the right time and I could see that Mindy's eyes were tearing up.

"Of course."

* * *

I placed Daddy's envelope down beside me and started with the one from Marcus.

It was a very plain envelope, white and with my name on the front in Marcus' writing. My hands shook; this was going to be very difficult and I knew it. I was glad to have Dave with me; yes, I was being a pansy, but I had to have somebody with me for this and Dave knew a lot about me, not everything, but enough for me to see him as my closest friend, or was it something more?

I carefully broke the seal on the envelope and peered inside, as I would if looking into an unexploded, but ticking, bomb. There were a few pieces of paper, folded inside the envelope and it turned out to be a letter from Marcus.

I started to read.

When I had finished reading, I was almost soaked with tears, so I just passed the letter over to Dave without speaking. I felt so stupid that a few pieces of paper could drive me to sobbing as I was at that moment. I could tell that Dave was resisting the urge to hug me; he knew I hated it, but right at that moment, I needed to be hugged.

When Dave had finished reading the letter, he placed it down and pulled me into a hug.

..._...

"So Marcus is leaving everything he owns, to you!"

"I never knew that he had no living family. I really did not know much about him at all; I just wish that I had spent more time getting to know him, rather than arguing with him..."

I had really missed a lot of chances, but...

"Mindy, don't start second guessing yourself; it'll tear you apart and I'm not going to let that happen."

"He actually wants me to continue '_doing what I do_'; I found that a surprise!"

"There was a lot to Marcus that neither of us really knew. I liked him, I really did."

"I know," I said, then got curious. "What about your letter?"

"Oh, right!"

* * *

I pulled out the envelope that interestingly was a twin of Mindy's, except that it had my name on it.

There was a neatly folded letter inside and I started to read it. Certain phrases stood out:

'_...I don't envy you..._'

'_...That girl can be a handful..._'

'_...You have your work cut out..._'

I actually started laughing at some of Marcus' comments.

"What the hell, can be so fucking funny?" Mindy demanded, still cuddling into me.

I didn't answer as I read the final paragraph:

"_Look after her, Dave. She is one in a million and I believe  
whole-heartedly that you two were made for each other  
and I wish the two of you all the best together. Every second  
of my life that I spent with Mindy, both before and after  
Damon's death, were the happiest times that I could ever  
remember. I sincerely hope that the time you spend with  
Mindy will be as special as mine was and will last forever._"

I did not know what to say; so I said nothing and just passed the letter to Mindy. Within a minute she was laughing at Marcus' comments, about her, but then she went silent and I heard her crying again as she reached the final paragraph.

"You think he really meant that?" Mindy asked looking up at me.

"Since when did Marcus say anything that he didn't mean?"

"Point taken."

* * *

"What about the final envelope?"

I was trying not to think about that one. If Marcus' had been bad, then what would Daddy's letter be like?

"Will you read it with me?"

Dave gave me a patronising look, so I opened the envelope and found several items, one of which was the expected letter.

'_My dearest Mindy..._'

I was starting to choke up again.


	15. Transport

**_Friday evening_**

**_The Lizewski House_**

'_...Life will be very difficult on your own... I hope that you are safe and that you are getting on well with Marcus..._'

"Well, that went a bit wrong!" I said.

"Just a bit!" Dave answered.

_'...I know that you will be restless and that will most probably want to be Hit Girl again... I cannot advise you on that... That decision must be yours, child, and yours alone... I have taught you skills that will help you to survive as Hit Girl, but there are also many life skills that I was unable to teach you... If you ever put the costume back on and go out there, you __will need backup __– you CANNOT do it on your own, please promise me that you won't even try..._'

"He's right there, you know!" Dave commented.

'_... It would normally be against my better judgement, but under the circumstances, I could only recommend one person to help you out, at this point... Yes, he is borderline useless and damned incompetent, but he is well intentioned and he could be an asset to you... Hopefully, you can turn Ass-Kick around so that he isn't getting his 'ass-kicked' so much – Ha, Ha, Ha..._'

"That _still_ doesn't make sense!"

"Your Dad is still full of surprises!" I admitted.

"Daddy _did_ like you – he just had a rather warped sense of humour and well," Mindy said, blushing a little. "He was worried about you having an effect on me!"

"I have an effect on you?" I asked sarcastically.

"Just a little!" I quickly changed the subject. "Dave – you are not _that_ Kick-Ass anymore; Daddy would be proud of you right now!"

"You really think so?"

"I know so!" Mindy replied with a smile.

I was still reading, when I found something and pointed it out to Mindy.

_'...I was saving it until you were thirteen or so and hopefully when that bastard Frank D'Amico was no more, but you may need it now, especially if you go back to being Hit Girl..._'

Next, there was an address, a key code and instructions. We also needed a key. Mindy scrabbled around in the envelope, producing a metal key.

* * *

**_The following morning  
Saturday_**

**_Division Place, Brooklyn_**

Dad insisted on taking us.

The industrial unit was in a bad part of town, not to mention that Damon was involved. Mindy had not slept well, despite her new, extra-comfy bed!

"The suspense was fucking killing me; why couldn't we have gone last night?" Mindy demanded.

"Do I really need to respond to that?" I chuckled.

Dad parked the car and we walked over to the unit. Mindy examined the padlock.

"Been there a while. Good size and no sign of tampering," She muttered.

Mindy looked at me and I gave her a strange look in return.

"Just my thought processes!" Mindy said defensively as she inserted the key and removed the padlock.

Next came the code, which I entered into the keypad beside the door and the door lock released. I waved Mindy forward; I thought she should go first.

* * *

It was dark and I fumbled along the wall for a light switch before finding it and twisting it.

Light flooded the unit as several fluorescent fittings came to life.

It was not quite what I had expected. No walls lined with weapons, no computers, nothing really! However, Dave noticed something that I had not.

"Awesome!" He exclaimed walking over to four rather large cardboard crates.

"What's so fucking awesome about four packing crates – this place is a dump with nothing to show for it!" I groused.

"You were expecting an armoury, weren't you?" Dave asked, grinning.

"No... Well yes, actually," I admitted.

"There may not be weapons lining the walls, but if Dave is right, you have four very precious items here," Mr L said.

"What could be so fucking precious it comes in a giant box?" I demanded.

Dave grabbed hold of me and dragged me to the side of one of the boxes.

"Okay – what does that say on the box?" Dave said.

My eyes widened as I saw the logo; I instantly recognised it having been to that website many, many times.

"Ducati," I breathed in awe.

* * *

Mindy left the storage unit all giddy!

We now had a bit of a drive ahead of us. We were heading east out of Brooklyn and along Long Island. Our destination was a fifty-mile drive away, in an area of Long Island called Saint James.

..._...

An hour and a half later we were heading north up Fifty Acre Road. It was a narrow road and lined with trees. We then turned right onto Meadow Gate Road East and almost immediately, Dad stopped at the end of a driveway.

"There it is!" He announced.

"Oh, Wow!" Mindy said, wide-eyed.

I laughed at Mindy's expression.

"I have never seen a place so fucking huge!" She muttered.

* * *

**_Meadow Gate_**

Dad turned up the short driveway and pulled up outside the house.

We climbed out of the car and made our way up the stone steps to the large wooden front doors. The doors had glazing around them, to the sides and above. I slid the key into the lock and turned it, hearing the locking mechanism release. Instantly there was a loud beeping noise from the building's alarm system. Mindy moved directly to a control panel to the right of the front door and punched in a code, advised by Marcus.

The double-height entrance hall was large and had a white marble floor with black check marks. Immediately to the left was a transparent, glass staircase climbing to an open mezzanine above. To the right appeared to be three of the property's five bedrooms, including the Master Suite. Directly in front of the front door, was a glazed wall that looked down onto three-storey tall swimming pool enclosure.

Mindy started to squeal, not to mention she started jumping up and down in excitement!

Dad was quietly chuckling to himself.

..._...

The property had four levels to it.

We had come in on the second floor. There was one level above us: the third floor and two levels below us: the first floor and the basement. The poolside, itself was on the first floor.

Along from the entrance hall, away from the bedrooms was a sitting area and surprisingly a grand piano! Up from the piano was a fireplace and then a glass-topped table with eight chairs, the breakfast room. There was also an elegant dining room that had a round wooden table with eight chairs and a wooden floor.

There was also a large kitchen, equipped with a breakfast bar, which could seat four very comfortably. Beyond the kitchen was a spiral staircase up to the mezzanine and the remaining two bedrooms. Past the spiral staircase was a utility room with washing machines, dryers and freezers, plus the entrance to the three-car garage.

Beside the breakfast room were doors that opened out onto a decent sized wooden deck and steps down to the swimming pool and the basement.

Next to the breakfast room was the living room that consisted of two large couches, each of which could easily seat four adults. One wall overlooked the back garden, while another looked down onto the swimming pool. The open mezzanine was able to look down into this room, the entrance hall and the sitting area.

"This place is fucking awesome!" Mindy whispered, awestruck by what she was seeing. "I can't believe that Marcus had a place like this."

"I think Marcus was embarrassed by wealth; he was comfortable, but did not want to flaunt it. He was determined to earn his way through life," Dad said before shrugging. "That's the way I read it, take it or leave it."

* * *

**_Four days later  
Wednesday_**

**_The Lizewski House_**

"Can't you sit still for a fucking minute?"

"Aren't you excited?"

"Yes, Mindy, I am, but that does not mean I behave like I have ants down my shorts!"

"Sorry!" Mindy complained sarcastically.

We were going to spend a few days at Meadow Gate; Mindy was desperate to try out the swimming pool. Dad had cleared everything out of the storage locker and shipped it to the house. Currently the four motorcycles, still boxed up, were in the garage there. I wanted a closer look at them to check model and specification.

I had rode motorcycles when I was younger – only small scramblers; nevertheless, I was competent. Mindy it appeared had been taught the basics of riding a motorcycle by Damon, but she had never been much further than that.

Dad said he would teach us how to ride, properly.

* * *

**_Meadow Gate_**

"Has anybody told you that you are just a little kid, deep down inside?"

"At least I'm not as old as you!" Mindy called back, laughing, and dived into the swimming pool.

She had bought a new one-piece swimsuit, just for this occasion. It was pink and purple, so no surprise there. I had queried about why she did not get a two-piece, but she had insisted that she needed a body first before she could flaunt it!

I dived in after her; Dad was upstairs watching TV in the living room. I had to admit that Mindy was one hell of a swimmer.

"Daddy taught me to swim when I was five," Mindy said answering my unanswered question.

"Let me guess, dear old Daddy threw you in at the deep end?" I asked sarcastically.

Mindy's pained and embarrassed expression told me that I was bang on.

"I learnt very quickly!" Mindy called as she swam a very fast length on her back.

..._...

I enjoyed swimming, so it would be fun having access to a pool.

Mindy was standing in the shallow end, catching her breath and reorganising her hair. I took the opportunity to swim underwater and come up under Mindy, throwing her bodily out of the water and letting her splash down under the force of gravity.

They must have heard Mindy's scream in Central Park!

"That was not nice, Dave," Mindy said conversationally, as she grinned mischievously. "I will get my own back!"

"So you say!" I replied and seized hold of Mindy, throwing her as far as I could down the pool. Damn that scream was loud!

I saw Dad peering down from the living room, laughing.

* * *

**_That evening_**

"Ready for the grand unveiling?" Dad asked.

We were all in the three-car garage attached to the west side of the house. In front of us, lined up with a small gap in between were the four cardboard crates with Ducati on the sides. We began with the first crate on the left. Dad cut the tie-down straps and pulled off the cardboard.

"Damn!" I exclaimed.

The first machine was a Ducati Hyperstrada motorcycle in grey and purple, which rather gave away for whom the motorcycle was intended! The second machine was a Ducati Multistrada 1200 in grey and black. We assumed it had to be for Damon. Both of the machines were fitted with dual-purpose tyres.

The final two crates housed machines that were identical in all, but colour. The name was not a surprise; they were both Ducati Streetfighter 848 machines, one in all black and the other in black and purple. We assumed that these were intended for when Hit Girl was more experienced. The Streetfighter's were fitted with road tyres, so may have been intended for road use, leaving the other machines for off-road use.

Mindy was almost speechless at the sight of the powerful machines.

"I don't think I've ever known her to be so quiet!" Dad quipped.


	16. Meeting The Neighbours

**_Three weeks later  
Saturday_**

**_Long Island_**

We were on some open ground overlooking Long Island Sound and we were going to be riding our motorcycles.

Only they were not the motorcycles that we were expecting to be riding!

"Now if you two doughnuts thought I was just going to let you ride a Ducati, then you are fucking nuts!" Dad had said.

Mindy's expression had been priceless; I did not think that she had ever been called a doughnut before!

"You both need to re-learn the basics and not on twenty-thousand dollar plus machines, either. You will ride these very nice, hardy, Honda CB125F bikes, until _I_ deem you both competent," Dad had explained further.

You would have thought that somebody had just offered Mindy a BB-gun to use instead of a real firearm; her expression was amusing to see and a just a little bit horrified.

"You Lizewski's really know how to wind me up!" Mindy growled with a sideways glare in my direction.

"It's an art!" Dad quipped with a grin at Mindy.

* * *

It turned out that Mr Lizewski was right, damn him!

The Honda machines were light and very basic and, therefore, were perfect for getting 'back into the saddle' as it were. They were also fun to ride, too! We were learning on a soft sandy soil, which the off-road tyres handled very well. My motorcycle was bright yellow, while Dave's was Red. We had both purchased two motorcycle helmets each, one for normal use and one for use with our combat suits.

Naturally, Hit Girl's helmet was purple and full face, while Kick-Ass had one that was green with some yellow highlights, and full face, too. On that day, though, I was wearing a dark blue helmet, with a tinted visor. Dave's helmet was dark red, again with a tinted visor.

I was wearing a two-piece leather suit in a lighter blue than my helmet, plus leather gloves and boots. Dave wore a similar two-piece suit in dark grey, along with gloves and boots. Neither of us was riding on the roads, so there were no legal issues to worry about, at least for now. We had brought the two motorcycles on a trailer attached to the back of the SUV.

..._...

When I first climbed onto the Honda, I decided that I knew what I was doing and then naturally I made a complete ass of myself. I managed to lose control after my second turn and came off rather spectacularly, much to Dave's amusement. I was very glad that nobody could see my face, as it would have matched Dave's red Honda!

Once I had managed to control Hit Girl, I was able to control the Honda better and did not come off again. I was still annoyed that Dave had not come off _his_ Honda, but such was life and Hit Girl could take a little humiliation, once in a while!

* * *

They were doing surprisingly well!

After a slow start and a spectacular, if not very lady-like fall by Mindy, they were both coping very well with their machines. As expected Mindy had thought herself an expert with expected results! It had surprised me that Mindy had allowed herself to be given instruction by the likes of me. However, that girl constantly surprised me with how intelligent she was and despite her obvious experience as Hit Girl, still bowed to my own experiences.

..._...

I was now considering moving to Meadow Gate, full time. Mindy had been almost a different girl since we had started spending a couple of days each week at the house. I also saw Meadow Gate as being a lot safer than our house in Brooklyn. Meadow Gate was defensible and I had figured out some changes that we could make to the property, both for security and for improving the training facilities. I would need to run the changes past Mindy, of course, as it _was_ her house.

Dave was different, too.

It felt good to be in a house, with two kids laughing and joking with each other. Dave had taken the death of his mother hard and had never been the same again. However, since he had met Mindy, he had changed and he seemed happier and more outgoing, for it. Hearing the two of them fighting in the swimming pool was heart-warming and while very noisy – Mindy could scream very loudly and shrilly – I was pleased that they could enjoy themselves.

I could see darker times ahead of us all and we needed to be well rested and trained.

* * *

**_That evening_**

**_Meadow Gate_**

I was exhausted!

We had been out for almost six hours; Dad had refused to let us return home until we had mastered the motorcycles to _his_ satisfaction. Dad was now cooking some food and I could smell steak!

"You two ready to eat?" Dad called from the kitchen.

"Yeah, we're coming," I called back from the living room.

I looked over to the couch, where Mindy had been sitting; she was fast asleep!

"Asshole!" Mindy growled after I had prodded her awake.

"Food's ready, Mindy," I said.

"Oh, good. I'm starving..."

..._...

The steaks were very good, and perfect, after the long and arduous day, which Mindy and I had just completed. On the other hand, maybe the day would be better described as 'endured'!

"Thanks, Mr Lizewski; I really enjoyed today, despite it being a little sore on my ass!" Mindy said with a smirk.

"I wish you would call me James, but thank you, Mindy, I'm glad that you enjoyed it."

"Yeah, thanks, Dad; it was good and I enjoyed Mindy, err, flying off her Honda, too!" I quipped.

"It hurt you know, ass!"

"Hit Girl can handle it, I'm sure," I replied and received a scowl in return.

* * *

The steak was really good, as expected.

Mr Lizewski, or James as I should be calling him, was a great cook and I was a growing girl. I had not realised that I had fallen asleep on the couch; I must have been exhausted! It was not all that much of a surprise; I had regularly fallen asleep on the way home, and also once we had got home, when I was out with Daddy. Not my fault, I was young back then, mind you I still _was_ young.

What would I have done if I had ignored that letter telling me to go to live with Marcus? Where might I have gone with my three-million dollars? Would I have still been alive? Looking back, revealing my identity to Dave had been the best decision that I had ever made!

I was happier now than I had been in months, what with everything that had occurred. Now, I was safe and I had a companion; I was not alone. The thought of being alone actually made me shudder.

James had brought up some interesting ideas for the house and I had agreed. I was pleased that he had asked my permission; his ideas were very sound and I looked forward to seeing the results.

Life was good.

* * *

**_The following morning  
Sunday_**

**_Meadow Gate_**

I had woken up early.

Dave and I had taken two of the bedrooms at the east end of the house, on the second floor, while James had taken a bedroom at the top of the house, at the west end. Nobody was using the master suite at that point, except for the awesome bathroom.

Dave was still asleep, so I decided to go for a run down the road, so I scribbled him a note and left the house.

..._...

"Hi!"

I had barely walked ten yards from the end of the drive when I heard a voice. I stopped and turned around. There was a girl, standing a few yards away, jogging towards me.

"You're new around here?" She asked.

"Kind of," I replied.

"You live at number one, don't you?"

I nodded in response.

"I live at number eleven, third on the right," The girl said, pointing back down Meadow Gate. "I'm Chloe."

"Nice to meet you Chloe, I'm Mindy."

The girl was about my height, with short blonde hair. Probably about my age, she also had a fuller figure than I did!

"You going for a run?"

"I was, yeah."

"Mind if I tag along?" The girl, Chloe, asked.

I did mind, however, making a friend would not be so bad.

"I'm not slowing down for you!"

* * *

I awoke, saw Mindy's note and actually laughed.

That was the Mindy, I knew: getting up early and going out training. I was not sure how long she had been gone, but I was hungry so headed for the kitchen and started to drag out everything that I might need to get breakfast started.

"Morning, son!"

"Hi, Dad!"

"Where's the short-ass?"

"Gone for a run!"

"Sounds about right!"

* * *

**_Meadow Gate, No.11_**

"Mom!"

"Chloe, there's no need to bellow!"

"Mom, we have a visitor," Chloe explained, lowering her voice. "This is Mindy, from number one,"

"Hello, Mindy and welcome to Meadow Gate," Mrs Bennett said with a friendly smile.

"Hi, Mrs Bennett and thanks," I replied.

"It's _Doctor_ Bennett, Mindy, if you please, but call me Cathy."

I saw Chloe roll her eyes.

"Sorry, Dr Bennett, err, Cathy," I said, felling myself blush.

"How old are you, Mindy?" Cathy asked.

"Twelve."

"Same age as Chloe!"

"Oh great; another girl, just want we _don't_ need!" A voice groaned and a young boy appeared.

"Mindy, this is my brat of a cousin, Curtis!" Chloe growled, looking annoyed.

"Chloe, what have I said about being nasty to Curtis?" Cathy announced and Curtis grinned smugly.

"Sorry about him, Mindy!"

"Mindy, why don't you and your family come over this evening?" Cathy suddenly asked. "Dinner, maybe?"

I could think of no earthly reason why not and fitting in with the neighbours could not hurt.

"Err, that would be good, I'll have to check with, err, my family, but yes," I stammered and Cathy smiled.

I checked my watch.

"I had better get back for breakfast," I said. "I also need a shower."

"You do and so does Chloe!" Cathy chuckled. "Let's say seven-thirty for eight?"

"No problem!" I replied and said goodbye to Chloe.

* * *

**_Meadow Gate_**

"Enjoyed your run?"

"Yeah, thanks. Dave, we have a dinner invitation, tonight at number eleven."

Both Dave and James stopped what they were doing and turned to stare at me.

"Little Miss Sociable!" Dave quipped.

I scowled in his direction.

"I saw no reason to say no. I met Chloe outside, we ran together. She lives with her Mom, Dad and cousin; he's a brat called Curtis."

"What time?"

"Seven-thirty for eight."

"Well we'd better find some clean clothes!" James commented.

"You need a shower, too!" Dave added.


	17. Dinner Date

**_Sunday evening_**

**_Meadow Gate_**

I was nervous.

Why the hell, was I nervous? Well, I had never been invited _anywhere_ in my entire life, before! I was keen to make a good impression, but I was not going overboard, either. Dave had suggested that I wear a skirt, or even a dress. I had sunk that idea very quickly; I did not even _own_ a skirt or a dress, nor was I going to buy one!

Cathy had told me it would be casual and friendly, so I opted for some new blue jeans and a mauve blouse. My hair was in a ponytail, up and out of the way. Dave had actually been impressed when I had come out of the bedroom.

"Never seen you looking so smart!"

I felt myself blushing.

* * *

**_Meadow Gate, No 11_**

Dave knocked on the front door.

The door was wrenched open almost immediately and revealed a grinning Chloe, who waved us into the house.

The house was awesome! Chloe led us through into a large and comfortable family room. There we found a tall man, who smiled and held out his hand to James.

"Hi, I'm Ryan Bennett, Chloe's father."

"James Lizewski, and this is my son Dave and his cousin, Mindy."

Introductions were exchanged and we sat down. Cathy breezed in, said a quick hello and then went back to the kitchen. By the smell, something very nice was cooking.

"Mindy, will you come and see my room?" Chloe asked, or rather demanded.

I was determined to stay with Dave. However, he nudged me rather hard, so reluctantly I followed Chloe.

Chloe literally dragged me up the stairs, where I stopped dead.

* * *

"What?" Chloe asked.

I moved towards the bedroom on the right.

"You don't want to go in there; that's where the brat lives!"

I went in the door and saw Curtis lying on his bed. On the wall was a life size poster of none other than Kick-Ass, himself!

"Nice poster!" I said approvingly.

"Thanks, Mindy," Curtis responded, happy that I had complimented him.

Chloe was quietly fuming behind me. I turned, left Curtis' room and followed Chloe into her own, immediately across the landing.

Chloe's room was light blue, which was a surprise. Even more surprising was an obviously homemade poster that adorned the wall beside her computer.

I immediately recognised myself. I was in the pose of shooting at the camera, back in the warehouse. It was a screen capture from _that_ internet video.

"You like vigilantes?" I asked tentatively.

"I think she's cool. I like to see some female empowerment. Nobody knows who she is, which kind of adds to her appeal; she is a legend, an unknown, a shadow," Chloe explained.

I did not quite know how to react to all of that!

* * *

Apparently, Chloe's Dad was a Commander in the US Navy.

Naturally, this had appealed to Dad, considering his own military service in the US Marine Corps, years before.

"Commander, eh!" Dad replied. "I retired as a Marine Colonel, about a year after Dave was born."

"So it would be 'sir', then," Commander Bennett, laughed.

"Yes, Commander, it would!"

The two Dad's then started chatting about their military service, so I went looking for Mindy.

..._...

I soon found her, by following the laughing and, surprisingly, giggling!

The two girls were in Chloe's bedroom and laughing at something on the computer. Whatever it was they closed the window before I was able to see what it was and Mindy was blushing.

"Hi, Dave!" Mindy said, trying to keep a straight face.

"Found something fun?" I asked.

"Chloe, err, has some strange tastes," Mindy said and I had a feeling that that, was all I was going to find out. "Oh, have you seen the large poster in Curtis' room, just across the landing."

"We both think he's super-cool and would love to meet him face to face!" Chloe said, going all fan-girl.

"Go look, the poster is of a rather nice looking guy!" Mindy encouraged, grinning.

I walked across the landing and said hello to Curtis, before looking at his wall...

"For fuck's sake!" I muttered to myself as I saw the enormous poster of my alter ego.

"You like Kick-Ass?" I asked Curtis.

"He's totally awesome!" Curtis replied. "I want to be like him, one day."

"Well, he is the best out there!" I quipped.

"He is that," Curtis replied. "Chloe fancies herself as that purple girl, thingy – you seen the poster on her wall?"

"No, I haven't."

I wondered back through to Chloe's room, looked along the wall, and quickly found the poster that Curtis was referring to, just past the computer.

"Bit of a skinny bitch, isn't she?" I commented with a smirk. "She'll never amount to much; Kick-Ass is _way_ better. She could do with some tits, too!"

I smiled at the glowering Mindy and sauntered off back downstairs.

* * *

We all sat down at eight and started eating quite a large spread.

Cathy had done very well to put something like this together, so fast. I noticed that Mindy was still fuming from my comments upstairs, but I knew that she could not say anything!

"So what do you think about Meadow Gate?" Ryan asked, directing his question at Mindy and me.

"I think it's great, so quiet," Mindy replied honestly.

"I have no complaints and the neighbours seem nice," I said.

Ryan laughed.

"Wait till you get to know Chloe and Curtis; you may soon change your mind!" Ryan responded, ignoring the glares that he was receiving from both kids.

"So what actually brings you here, James?" Cathy asked.

"Retirement mainly. I just want to enjoy my remaining years with Dave and Mindy."

...-…

The meal was going well until about forty minutes later, when Curtis just had to broach the subject we had been avoiding. He was actually quite skilful at slipping it in; I decided that we would have to watch Curtis!

"Aunt Cathy, both Dave and Mindy are big fans of Kick-Ass, I think Mindy actually fancies him, but Dave doesn't think much of the scrawny purple one with no tits", Curtis said.

"Curtis, what have you been told about using words like that?" Ryan warned.

"Sorry!" Curtis said, blushing a little and Chloe laughed.

Mindy was squirming in her chair and concentrating on her food, but I could see some redness to her cheeks.

"You two remember that video, from a few months back?" Curtis persisted. "The one where Kick-Ass was being beaten?"

"Vividly!" I replied and Mindy looked distinctly uncomfortable. Dad was showing a little concern, too.

"I thought that the video was awesome, seeing all those men getting killed..."

Chloe reached over to her cousin and whacked him around the back of the head.

"It was _not_ 'awesome', brat, people died and that man was burnt to death!"

"Chloe what have I said about hitting your cousin?" Cathy cautioned.

"Don't hit him where the bruises can be seen?" Chloe replied and Mindy laughed.

"No, that is _not_ what I said..." Cathy began.

"Bet it was what you meant, though!" Ryan chuckled, interrupting his wife.

Curtis looked angry and stuck his tongue out at Chloe.

"I think Kick-Ass is cool, what do you think, Dave?" Mindy asked, trying to keep a straight face.

"He _is_ the best out there, right now, and obviously wants to help people," I replied.

"At least Kick-Ass doesn't kill people," Curtis commented, glaring at Chloe.

James quickly diverted the conversation onto something else, while we moved onto the next course.

* * *

Chloe piped up while we were digging into some home-made apple pie.

"Mindy and I have the same birthday."

"December third?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, coincidence, huh!" I acknowledged with my mouth half-full of apple pie.

"It is a bit of a coincidence and a surprise!" Cathy confirmed.

"Two perfect young ladies!" James said.

"Yeah, right!" Dave snorted.

"I agree!" Curtis added.

"I can be a perfect young lady, when required!" Chloe exclaimed indignantly.

"Never going to happen!" Ryan and Cathy said together.

* * *

After the meal we sat down in the family room.

"Mindy, can I join you for a run, next weekend?" Chloe asked.

"I don't see why not," I replied. "You can come over and use the pool, if you want."

I liked Chloe, she seemed fun to have around. She was also quite athletic and she had been able to keep up with me while I was out running that morning.

"That would be cool," Chloe said. "We can't use our own pool for another few months!"

We continued chatting for another half hour, before Dave suggested that it was time to go. We thanked the Bennett's for what had actually been a very enjoyable evening. They were genuinely a very likeable family, even Curtis!

..._...

"I really enjoyed that!" I said as we walked down the road towards home.

"Yeah, it was good," Dave agreed. "Dad?"

"It was very nice to be able to chat with Ryan, he has had a lot of experiences in the Navy. They are a very nice family," Dad replied.

Once we were back inside, I turned on Dave.

"So: '_bit of a skinny bitch_', '_she'll never amount to much_', '_Kick-Ass is way better_'!" I growled.

The asshole laughed.

"Had to maintain our cover!" Dave said. "Besides, I meant every word!"

"What about: '_could do with some tits_'?" I persisted.

"Well, you could!"

He was right, which just made it worse!

It had been a good evening and definitely a first for me.

"I think it is time for bed!" James commented.


	18. Back In Action

**_One week later  
Friday_**

**_East Brooklyn_**

This was it.

"Now, I trust you two, to behave – scratch those motorcycles and you're both fucking grounded!"

"See ya, Dad!" I called back over the comms, grinning at Hit Girl who was riding beside me.

We were both on our Ducati motorcycles, properly, for the first time. We had been training on them every night and we believed that we were ready.

Dad had taken both machines on a trailer to the Safehouse, the previous night and we had left from there.

It was time for some serious action. We had been cooped up for too long and Mindy was desperate to shed some of her pent up energies. We also wanted to gather some more information on the new British Mobster in the City, Richard Atkinson. So far, Dad had been unable to find out much more about the man we had seen, not that Dad had stopped searching; he said that it was just a matter of time!

It had been four weeks since we had last worn our combat suits and Mindy had needed to alter her suit slightly! Neither of us had actually noticed, but Mindy was gaining hips. Luckily, Mindy's combat suit had been adjustable to account for her growing.

Since our previous outings, Mindy was now wearing a sports bra, too.

* * *

It felt so right, being out with Kick-Ass.

So far we had not attracted much attention; however that was about to change!

We parked up, part way along a dark alleyway and pulled a tarpaulin over the two motorcycles. That night we were ready for action. Hit Girl had her Katana on her back, with her two Ko-Wakizashi at her hips. In holsters on her thighs were her twin SIG Sauer P232 pistols. On the back of each of her gauntlets were a pair of throwing knives. It was a heavy load, but she insisted that she could manage. For myself, I was carrying both my batons and my pair of Ko-Wakizashi. On my right hip, I carried one of my Glock 17 Gen 4 pistols.

We had worked out a route that would cover some of the seedier parts of Brooklyn. We hoped to find evidence of the British Mobsters operations.

After forty minutes, we discovered our first fight of the night and the start of something big.

...-…

"Quit your fucking moaning, Jack!"

"But what if one of them fucking vigilantes appears?"

"They've not been seen for weeks!"

"I know, but there was that video, with that girl –"

"I assume you mean me!" Hit Girl growled, stepping into the light.

"Oh, fuck!"

"Good evening, my name is Hit Girl; fear the name!" She growled.

The two men made to bolt, but came up short.

"Leaving so soon?" I asked.

"Kick-Ass; glad you could join us!" Hit Girl called out.

The men looked panicked. However, before we could do or say anything else, Hit Girl was shot in the back.

* * *

I rolled with the impact and came back up with a pistol in each hand and facing in the direction of the gunshots.

Kick-Ass had drawn his own pistol and was running towards me. At the end of the alley, were four men, each armed with a Scorpion EVO3 submachine gun. I opened fire with both pistols, the range was probably too far, nonetheless I ran towards the men and one went down. The others opened fire, sending nine-millimetre bullets in my direction.

I flipped forwards and dived behind a dumpster to reload my pistols. I could hear the sharp bark of Kick-Ass' Glock as he advanced down the alley. The three remaining men were advancing towards us both, with the Scorpions at their shoulders. These men were professionals; with obvious military training and were covering each other, rather competently.

..._...

"Kick-Ass cover me!"

"Go for it!" Kick-Ass replied.

I jumped up, firing both pistols. It occurred to me that I really should have picked a weapon with a larger magazine capacity, but that was something for another time. Two more men went down, one to me, and the other to Kick-Ass and his Glock. I felt two bullets collide with my armour, but I ignored the pain and drove forwards, dropping the last man just as both pistols locked back on empty magazines.

Kick-Ass came up beside me, reloading his Glock as I did the same with my SIGs. The two men from earlier were long gone. There was a groaning on the ground and I walked over to one of the men, he was bleeding from his chest.

"Who are you?" I growled.

"Go fuck yourself, bitch!" The man snarled with a distinctive British, London accent.

We were in the correct part of town! I shot the man in the forehead.

Who said I did not have a heart?

* * *

"That was fun!"

"You okay; I saw you getting shot a couple of times," I asked.

"Three times, actually, but nothing penetrated," Hit Girl replied. "But thanks for caring."

I patted Hit Girl on the head and she growled!

We had moved a distance away from that alley before the Cops had arrived and settled back to our route.

..._...

I heard tyres squealing and span around to see a pair of Range Rovers skidding to a halt.

Trouble, British style!

I ran towards the vehicles as men started jumping out. I was followed by Hit Girl; we did not want to give the men time to ready their firearms. There were eight men, four from each SUV and though two from each vehicle had Scorpion EVO3 submachine guns, we were too close for them to be used effectively, and they were rapidly discarded and replaced with pistols.

* * *

I dropped two with my SIGs, before holstering them and drawing my Ko-Wakizashi blades.

The men all drew extending billy clubs and moved towards us. Kick-Ass had seized his own blades and had drawn three men, while I had drawn the remaining three.

The men were good; I had to give them that. I received several hits from the clubs before I was able to deflect one and ram a blade into the side of a man's chest. I went down with barely a sound. During the fight, I never heard a third vehicle pull up and it was only when Kick-Ass called out a warning that I looked behind me and saw a man reaching for me, only a foot away.

I twisted and kicked out, using a man as a push-off point. My head connected with the man coming up behind me and I broke his nose. I shoved a blade behind me and heard a grunt of pain, then I hit the blacktop and rolled to safety. There were now six men before me. Kick-Ass was still fighting two of his original three, so I was alone for the moment.

I kicked a pistol out of a man's hand and moved to the next man, striking him in the face with my elbow, sending blood exploding from his nose. I kicked the legs out from under him and as he came down, I broke his neck across my knee.

I felt myself being seized around the neck and was pulled upwards and into the air. I struggled and fought to get purchase for my legs so that I could use them for leverage, but the man was good and knew what I was trying to accomplish. I used every ounce of flexibility that I possessed and won. I wedged a foot into the man's legs and twisted enough to drive my head backwards into the side of his head.

The man grunted at the assault and loosened his grip. I took advantage of this and drove a throwing knife into his chest. He yelled out and threw me to the ground, but my reflexes allowed me to absorb the impact and get back to my feet in time to drive a blade into his stomach.

I heaved the blade to one side, opening the gash and allowing the man's guts to spill out onto the street.

* * *

Hit Girl seemed to be enjoying herself!

Another vehicle had pulled up and I had called out a warning to my partner, which had helped her to fend off an attack from the rear. She was now fighting half a dozen men, so I set to defeating my pair, so that I could then help her.

These men were very good and reminded me that I needed a lot more training before I was _anywhere_ near Mindy's league! The armour helped me; I was able to use the armour panels to smash the men's faces and intercept their punches and their clubs.

I drove my armoured fist into the temple of the final man, putting him down. I turned to Hit Girl and her mini-war. She had three men left and she did not seem to be tiring, which both was and was not a surprise!

All four men were facing away from me and towards Hit Girl, so I decided to try a trick from Hit Girl's book of dramatic entrances.

* * *

I was actually startled when I saw one of the men brace up, his face grimacing with pain as a sharp pointed blade appeared out of his chest.

The blade was swiftly withdrawn and the body dropped to the blacktop, revealing Kick-Ass.

So, that's what that attack looked like from the front; no wonder Kick-Ass had been so startled the first time! I had to give him points for a dramatic entrance. He seemed to have shocked the other three men, one of which chose to run. I took the opportunity to swap my Ko-Wakizashi for my Katana and slashed one man from the left to the right, removing his legs from above the knees. He screamed and I followed through bringing the blade vertically down into his chest, cutting his heart in two.

Kick-Ass had dispatched the other man with a Ko-Wakizashi to the neck. The final man had not run far and I shot him down with a double-tap.

I tried to control my breathing, but I was feeling exhausted. I refused to show it, though; I had a reputation to uphold. I was determined _not_ to fall asleep once back at the Safehouse; that had been embarrassing enough at the house after spending the day riding the motorcycles!

"You okay?" Kick-Ass asked, strolling over.

"Never better, Kick-Ass!" I replied, still breathing heavily. "Well done on your little entrance!"

I noticed that Kick-Ass did not seem too put out by the fight we had just endured. We searched all three SUVs, but found nothing worthwhile, except that the Brits had good taste in vehicles.

We returned to the motorcycles and headed back to the Safehouse. We only took the time to undress and then we went straight to bed. I was sore from the bullet strikes, but had nothing more than one welt on my back and two on my stomach, plus a few bruises.

We slept well!

* * *

**_The following morning  
Saturday_**

**_Safehouse C_**

We were woken up by James goddamn Lizewski.

"You two ready to go home?" He demanded happily.

"Yeah, yeah!" I growled.

* * *

**_That afternoon_**

**_Meadow Gate_**

"Where have you two been?" Chloe demanded. "I've been coming round all morning."

"We were in the City, err, shopping," I said and noticed that Chloe seemed extremely excited. "Come in."

Before Chloe had sat down on the couch in the living room, she started talking again.

"They're back!" Chloe exclaimed.

"Who?" I responded, knowing exactly _who_ was back.

"That purple vigilante and now I know her _name_!"

Chloe seemed a little bit overwhelmed.

"Oh, yeah?" I replied, feigning ignorance.

"She's called Hit Girl!" Chloe almost shouted. "Her new suit is fucking awesome!"

..._...

Apparently, some of our action had been caught on film.

Chloe had insisted on showing us the video on her iPad. The video had started with a very dark and grainy image of the first alley, but my growly, Hit Girl voice had been very clear; one of the men must have been recording at the time.

_'Quit your fucking moaning, Jack!'  
'But what if one of them fucking vigilantes appears?'  
'They've not been seen for weeks!'  
'I know, but there was that video, with that girl –'  
'I assume you mean me!'  
'Oh, fuck!'  
'Good evening, my name is Hit Girl; fear the name!'  
'Leaving so soon?'  
'Kick-Ass; glad you could join us!'_

The video then cut to a much clearer one showing the final minute or two of our fight out in the open. It showed Kick-Ass' grand entrance and me putting down the man, with my Katana and then dropping the final attacker with my pistol.

The video was entitled: 'The Purple Menace, friend or foe'!

"I like the title," Kick-Ass quipped and I just glared.


	19. Escalation

**_The following morning  
Sunday_**

**_Meadow Gate_**

I awoke at seven for my run.

Guess, who was waiting, sitting on the sidewalk?

"Morning, Mindy – ready for a run?"

"Yeah, Chloe," I growled back.

..._...

After forty minutes of running and hearing all about a certain purple-clad vigilante, called Hit Girl, we arrived back at the house. We were both sweating profusely and a little tired after the morning's exertions.

"You fancy a swim, Chloe?"

"Hell, yeah!" Chloe said, pulling her swimsuit out of a pocket.

I rolled my eyes and headed up to the front doors.

* * *

I heard screaming!

Dad and I were in the kitchen, getting coffee. I wandered over to the living room and peered down to the swimming pool. There, below me, I saw two blonde-haired girls chasing each other in the water. One of the girls looked up and noticed me. Mindy smiled and waved before diving after Chloe.

It was good to see Mindy being able to enjoy herself.

..._...

Twenty minutes later, we all sat down for breakfast. Chloe joined us, since she was there at the time. Both girls seemed to have built up a large appetite after their run and swim.

It was time to go and explore the woods, out the back of the house today. We had been putting it off, but now we had run out of excuses. The area was surrounded by a large brick wall, about ten feet tall. The entire wooded area belonged to the house and there was supposed to be a building there somewhere, which we thought might prove useful for training with weapons, as it was very private.

* * *

Once Chloe had gone home, promising to return later, we went exploring.

The wood was approximately eleven acres in area and went back about two-hundred metres from the back garden. We walked about eighty-metres into the woods before turning towards the centre of the area.

"Found it!" Dave called and I pushed through the trees towards his voice, followed by James.

The building turned out to be a log cabin on a concrete base. We had a key and opened the front door, inside the place was clean, but smelt unused. There was a large open area, setup with a couch, two chairs and a coffee table. Behind this was a kitchen and a table for four. Along a short corridor was a bathroom and two bedrooms, one with a double bed and one with two single beds.

The cabin was single storey and had a large open fireplace built from stone.

* * *

"You look depressed again!"

"I'm not, well... Maybe a little," Mindy said.

"Stop expecting to find enormous weapons caches and squadrons of battle tanks!" I laughed.

"Funny, Dave!" Mindy growled.

"We could still use this place for training," I said.

"Yeah, sorry, I'm just being stupid."

We left the cabin and headed back to the house. Dad had not said a word, but he seemed to have studied the layout of the cabin and then the surrounding area.

I could not quite work out Dad's expression.

* * *

**_One week later  
Saturday_**

**_Meadow Gate_**

Chloe was getting seriously creepy!

It was like having a stalker, except that only the stalker knew that she was being stalked. If Chloe only knew the truth – she would probably want to make love to me, the way she talked about Hit Girl. Chloe could not stop talking about Hit Girl; it was getting seriously annoying and I was sorely tempted just to grab her and tell her the goddamn truth, just for some peace and fucking quiet!

Dave was enjoying every minute of it!

While he had his own fan-boy, Curtis, he did not have to suffer his alter ego being discussed every fucking second of every fucking day. Curtis and Dave discussed Kick-Ass, but only at random intervals, not at all like Chloe.

Dave had suggested that maybe I should surprise her, as Hit Girl, just to smack her around a bit and try to reduce Chloe's love affair.

I was seriously tempted!

* * *

**_Two days later  
Monday morning_**

"You two have kicked over a fucking hornets' nest!"

"What?" Mindy asked.

"My sources tell me that we have a very pissed off Brit!" Dad went on.

"Mindy pisses a lot of people off; it's just her way of saying hello!" I laughed.

"Dave you can be such a funny fucker!" Mindy growled.

"Seriously, though, it's good that we issued him off!" I said.

"Yes and no, Dave. You want to tell him, Hit Girl?" Dad said looking at Mindy.

Mindy gave me a very patronising look as she responded.

"It means that we are going to be hunted. The Brit will use everything at his disposal, including leveraging people that don't like us, such as Gigante!" Mindy explained. "Your Dad is right; we have kicked over a fucking hornet's nest!"

"It's not like it's the first time we've been in shit together," I said and Mindy grinned.

"I'm off to the town hall, need to check on something," Dad said cryptically.

* * *

"So, my little super-vigilante, what's our plan of action?"

"Our 'plan of action', Dave is not to get ourselves killed!" Mindy retorted. "Also, for your information, I am not 'little', just compact."

"If you say so," I laughed.

Mindy was always a little touchy about her physical stature, but I saw nothing wrong with her size; she was a lethal weapon, five-foot tall or not!

"Maybe we should just tackle them, head on," Mindy mused.

"Sounds painful," I commented.

"Good observation," Mindy laughed. "But we might not have any choice – we can't just sit around doing nothing!"

"Yeah, you could stay here with Chloe and keep safe!" I said deadpan.

"Fuck that, I'd rather take on those bastards, single handed!"

* * *

**_Four days later  
Friday night_**

**_Safehouse C_**

Dad had seemed to vanish for most of the week; I had no idea where.

We had not seen Chloe, much, although she had sent Mindy an email containing links to some more Hit Girl stuff. I think Mindy just deleted it. Mindy loved being Hit Girl, but she did not like talking about being Hit Girl, which was understandable!

Mindy was on the computer, when she suddenly jumped up.

"Dave!" She yelled almost making me jump.

"What?"

"You have a call for help!" Mindy said simply.

"I have what?"

"You remember your website? Well, I've been monitoring it, just in case..." Mindy explained.

"I don't do that anymore, Mindy."

"Why the hell not – we've nothing else to do, right now!" Mindy said. "It could be fun!"

Mindy looked so excited and she was smiling so sweetly...

"Maybe I'm rubbing off on you," I quipped.

"I just want to help somebody, just the once!"

* * *

The message had given us an address.

It was in a seedier part of Manhattan. Apparently, somebody's friend was caught up in some prostitution shit. They seemed to have had a go themselves, but had failed miserably; hence the call for help.

There was the possibility that this was all a trap, but we had to try.

..._...

We parked the motorcycles in a secluded spot and covered them.

I went first, with Kick-Ass covering our rear and we checked out the area before closing on the address we had been given.

Time to move, we both took off towards the building.

* * *

It _was_ a fucking trap!

Bullets truck our armour the moment we showed ourselves around the side of the building. It fucking hurt, but we both gained cover very quickly.

"It's a trap!" Hit Girl stated.

"All those years with Big Daddy taught you that, huh?" I yelled back.

Hit Girl's glare was not exactly friendly. Nevertheless, we had much more important things to worry about. Not getting ourselves killed being one of them. We both pulled around our MP5 sub-machine guns and returned fire with steady bursts to preserve our ammunition.

Obviously, it had been a grasp at straws by our Brit and he seemed to have come up trumps, only we were not expecting to find another vigilante there.

"Hit Girl, over there. The gunmen have somebody and that somebody is wearing a mask."

"Classic; wrong place, wrong time!" Hit Girl replied.

"Well, we'd better rescue them; that's want you wanted to do, right!"

Hit Girl rolled her eyes and we started dropping the gunmen.

* * *

As before, the men were organised, but there did not seem to be very many of them.

It was possible that our Brit had spread his men over the City in a hope of finding us. We needed to clear this place up, and quickly, before reinforcements arrived. Kick-Ass went first and I covered him as we made for the captured vigilante.

..._...

Two minutes later, there were two men left and they were using the vigilante as a shield.

That idea was not the best, as the vigilante was like five-foot tall and the two men were over six-foot! We closed to with a few metres, our MP5s levelled. I was covering the man on the left, while Kick-Ass had the man on the right.

"Help me!" The vigilante called in a voice that was beyond panic and well past desperation. It was also a voice that I recognised, but where from?

Then it hit me!

Oh, fuck!

I knew immediately who it was under that goddamn mask. The stupid fucking bitch! I aimed my MP5 and fired two rounds. Both bullets connected, blowing apart the heads of the two gunmen as if they were melons.

I seized the unfortunate girl, as the two dead bodies dropped to the ground, dragging her to safety and then dumped her behind a convenient dumpster.

"Stay out of shit that you know nothing about, kid!" I growled menacingly into her ear. "You keep at this, you're gonna get yourself killed. Now go home and forget this fucking shit!"

"I had to help my friend..." She tried. "She's called Natasha..."

"We'll handle it – now fuckoff home!" I growled angrily. "I catch you out here again; I'll snap your scrawny little neck!"

The girl vanished – fast!

"Too harsh?" I asked Kick-Ass.

"A good balance!" He replied with a chuckle.

* * *

We moved into the building.

It was a fucking whorehouse! Except the place did not seem to have _any_ fucking morals. I pushed my way to the second floor where I found bedrooms. I was horrified by what I saw; some of the girls were not much older than I was, for fuck's sake!

I found a man who seemed to be part of the staff and pinned him against the wall.

"I am looking for Natasha!" I growled.

The man spat in my face. I drove a knife through the palm of his right hand, pinning him to the wall.

"I am looking for Natasha!" I repeated.

"Room thirty-two, upstairs..." The man replied through clenched teeth.

I left the man trying to pull the knife from his hand I followed Kick-Ass up some stairs to the next floor. The girls were the same on that floor and all were very scared.

"We are not here to hurt any of you!" Kick-Ass called out as we found the door to room thirty-two.

Kick-Ass kicked it open and promptly shot the man in the room, who had a pistol pointed at the girl on the bed. The girl was naked and could only have been twelve or thirteen, no more.

"Are you okay?" I asked and the girl nodded.

Kick-Ass grabbed a blanket and wrapped the girl in it, before pushing his way back towards the main entrance. On the way, I recovered my knife. Outside we found a Paramedic and a Cop that had turned up at the scene. The Cop made to reach for his pistol, but Kick-Ass shook his head and the Cop wisely kept his hands out to his sides.

"This girl is called Natasha – look after her," Kick-Ass said, passing her to the Paramedic before turning to the Cop. "There are more like her, inside; close it down."

"Consider it done, Kick-Ass!" The young NYPD Officer, appalled at what I had told him, said with a wave and started calling for backup.

We left the scene very quickly and headed for our transport and from there we headed back to the Safehouse.

* * *

**_Safehouse C_**

As soon as I was out of my combat suit, I unpacked a brand new and unregistered cell phone and dialled a number.

"Hello," A shaky voice that I recognised, answered.

"She is safe!" I growled and dropped the connection.

I then proceeded to remove the battery and sim card before dropping the cell into the bin.


	20. Unmasked

**_The following morning  
Saturday_**

**_Central Manhattan_**

I was very sore when I woke up that morning.

The previous night had not gone well, by any stretch of the imagination, although at least Natasha had been rescued which was something...

Holy crap!

Thoughts, sights and sounds were flooding into my brain and coming together as one. My mind finally exploded with one devastatingly obvious fact that had obviously been sitting there for days, if not weeks.

I knew who Hit Girl was; I knew her secret identity!

* * *

**_Safehouse C_**

I was very sore when I woke up that morning.

The first thing I did was go for a shower and properly check out my body. There were little red welts all over my chest from the gunfire. The gunmen had been using nine-millimetre Parabellum, so the bullets had squished on impact. I could not really complain; I was still alive! Maybe I should get a padded bra to help absorb the force of bullets hitting certain places.

"When you've finished playing with yourself, can I get a shower?" Dave called.

"Asshole!" I yelled and heard Dave laughing as I dried off.

* * *

"What are we going to do about Chloe?" Dave asked over breakfast.

"To be honest, I don't know..."

"You rescued your biggest fan!"

"Don't remind me! She'll probably be insufferable now that Hit Girl saved her life!" I groaned, dropping my head onto the table.

"You know, Chloe is a very intelligent girl, much like you, Mindy. She may very well have figured it out by now."

"What d'ya mean?"

"She's spent lots of time with you. She'll have seen your back in the pool, but has she seen your front?"

"What are you saying?"

"You both get changed together after swimming..." I hinted.

"Oh, right – as long as you weren't insinuating... Never mind!" Mindy blushed slightly.

"I assume she will have seen the welts, from the bullets?"

"I never thought of that and now that you mention it, I noticed some marks on her body, too."

"Checked her out, did you?" I queried with a smirk. "I thought you didn't go in for that sort of thing, Mindy!"

Mindy scowled.

"It was on her left side," She replied. "It was the classic mark left from a bullet striking a Kevlar vest; believe me, I know!"

"Maybe we need to have a chat with this new vigilante!" I said.

Mindy jumped in her chair.

"My butt's vibrating!" She said grabbing the cell from the back pocket of her jeans and checked the screen. "It's fan-girl!"

* * *

**_Central Manhattan_**

"Hi, Chloe, having a good weekend?" Mindy asked cheerfully.

"Could be better; had a rough night, last night. You?"

"Had a blast; it was a hit!"

I almost laughed at that! Was she trying to tell me something? I knew that she had worked out who I was; my disguise was not very good!

"Can we meet up?" I asked tentatively.

"Don't see why not; where?" Mindy replied quickly.

"West 15th Street; that's in Midtown, number 35. I'm on the tenth floor, apartment 10C."

* * *

**_West 15th Street, Midtown_**

"Nice place!" I said, craning my neck almost to breaking point as I looked upwards to the top of the building.

"Hope it has a damn elevator!" Dave chuckled.

"Lazy git!"

..._...

We excited the elevator on the tenth floor and headed for the door that said '10C'. Dave knocked on the door, which flew open seconds later. Chloe looked a little worried and apprehensive to put it mildly.

"Come in, please," Chloe, said rather formally.

The place was awesome with high ceilings and large windows. Chloe led us into the living room that looked out across Manhattan, with floor to ceiling windows. She seemed very nervous and she was fidgeting a lot with her fingers. I noticed a table off to one side, which seemed to contain the mysterious vigilante's costume and equipment.

"So, this is what you were wearing, last night?" I said gently.

Chloe just nodded. Dave seemed to be smirking.

On the table were several dark blue items of clothing, which made up the majority of the costume. There was also a Kevlar vest and a black, bandana style mask that covered the head and face, down to just below the eyes. On the floor were some black boots. Finally, there was a six-inch knife. Then what looked like a nine-millimetre, Beretta 92FS. Which on closer inspection was not what it appeared to be.

"A pellet gun?" I asked, turning to Chloe.

"This ain't Texas; I can't just walk into Walmart and buy an armoury, can I?" Chloe exclaimed innocently.

"Points for improvisation," I said, nodding approvingly.

Chloe smiled.

"I saw from the marks on your skin, the other day, that the vest has been useful," I mentioned casually.

"Yeah, I noticed similar marks on you, too."

"So you both check each other out, when naked!" Dave quipped and I saw Chloe go pink and felt my own face warm up.

We both completely ignored Dave and continued talking.

"Where did you get all this from?" I asked waving my hand at the table.

"A lot of it belonged to my Mom; she was in the Navy, years ago," Chloe explained. "I started this a couple months back and now I'm not sure it was such a good idea..."

Chloe tailed off and looked very unhappy.

"It takes months, if not years to learn this shit, Chloe," Dave said meaningfully

"What do you normally do to people that find out your secret?" Chloe asked, a pained expression on her face.

"I would kill them, violently and creatively," I replied honestly.

Chloe visibly paled at that comment.

"However..." I growled ominously, dragging it out until Dave punched me rather hard on the shoulder. "Ouch! However, you have potential."

"What do you call yourself, anyway?"

"Shadow!"

..._...

"Okay, now the fluffy stuff is over, let's get serious," I growled, grabbing Chloe and shoving her none too gently, into a chair. "Number 1: you never tell anybody who we are. Number 2: you never use 'Hit Girl' or 'Kick-Ass' when we are not masked up, conversely; you never use 'Mindy' or 'Dave' when we _are_ masked up. Number 3: you do not tell Curtis anything about us. You do not tell your parents anything about us. You do not even think about us. Number 4: you never go out alone again. Number 5: I have hundreds of these rules. Before you do anything that involves Dave, Mindy, Kick-Ass or Hit Girl, you get our permission first. There is only one consequence of breaking these rules; guess what that is?"

"You will kill me," Chloe stammered out, now very white.

"Got it in one!" I said with a smile. "Dave said you were smart."

I sat down opposite Chloe and let her calm down. Dave sat down beside me.

"Tell us about Natasha."

* * *

"She goes to my school. She's the same age as me, about six months older, actually. She went missing, Monday, I think. She was not at school; I called her cell, no answer. I sent texts for almost three days, still nothing. Then on Wednesday afternoon, I received a response. It wasn't from a number that I recognised, but I recognised the way that she texted. She included a street number and a building number.

"That was when it all went to crap. I tried the Cops, but they didn't want to listen to a twelve-year-old brat! I tried, but they threatened to arrest me, so I stopped and went back home. I dug out my kit again and thought that I could get her out, but then I saw the men, so I used my backup plan and called you guys. I had no idea if you'd get the message, thank God you did!"

"You're a good friend and a good young detective," I commented after Chloe had finished talking, almost without her taking a breath!

"So how did you get yourself shot?"

"I'd rather not go into that now, if you don't mind," Chloe muttered looking very embarrassed.

"We'll leave that till later then... What?"

Chloe had gone all giggly.

"I've met Hit Girl!" She squealed.

Oh, fuck me!

I buried my face in my hands before replying.

"You can cut that fan-girl shit out, right the fuck now or help me God, I'll slap you stupid, Chloe!"

* * *

**_That evening_**

**_Meadow Gate_**

"You two finished cleaning up the City?" Dad chuckled.

"Funny, Dad!"

"Good work, by the way. Anyway, I have a surprise for you two kiddies!" Dad continued. "Follow me!"

..._...

We were back in the log cabin, in the woods.

"I'm confused," Mindy stated. "What have you brought us back to this shit hole?"

"You've lost me, Dad. You feeling okay, going senile, maybe?" I enquired.

"Funny, son!" Dad chuckled. "This place triggered some memories and I noticed something a little strange about the place. The concrete base is way over the top for the cabin amongst other things, so I went to the town hall and got hold of some old plans. Those plans were very revealing and by the way, the only copy has now mysteriously gone missing!"

Dad walked over to what outwardly appeared to be just a room to hang coats in, but he walked in and turned right before he opened a small wooden door to reveal a keypad.

"Cool, huh!"

"What have you found, Dad?"

"Watch."

Dad punched in a code. There was a click, followed by the opening of what appeared to be a pair of steel-grills. Lights clicked on and revealed a staircase descending downwards.

"Go on!" Dad said, waving us forward.

..._...

At the bottom of the concrete staircase was a large, heavy looking, steel door, currently in the open position. The door was curved on the outside and painted a dull red. Beside the door was another code pad for operating the door. Beside the steel door was a steel accordion-style gate, beyond which was darkness.

We passed through the heavy door to find ourselves in a two-storey facility. A steel staircase led downwards to the top floor, which was a living area and the furniture and décor looked rather dated in appearance. The ceiling was about fourteen feet above us and was domed in structure. Over to the far side of the living area was a steel ladder that led upwards into the ceiling. In the centre of the circular area, which was about forty or so feet in diameter, there was a support column which merged with the domed ceiling. Wrapped around the column was a curved concrete staircase going down to the lower floor.

The lower floor had four bedrooms, each with two single beds. Again, the décor was 1960s, possibly. There were also a couple of very smart looking bathrooms. Each room was built from concrete and had a steel, lockable door.

"Welcome to 'The Bunker'!" Dad said with a broad grin. "It's a nuclear bunker, from the bad old days when the U.S.S.R. might drop nukes on us at any time. The Bunker has been out of use since the late eighties. Needs updating but it is sound."

"It could be damn useful!" Mindy admitted, with a big grin.

"You happy now?" I asked with a laugh.

"Hell, yeah!"

* * *

**_Two days later_**

**_The House_**

My cell chirped.

"It's fan-girl!" I groaned and Dave laughed. I put the phone on speaker.

"Mindy, I've just seen Natasha and she's okay!" Chloe blurted out before I could even say hello.

"That's good to hear, Chloe," I replied and it was, too.

"They let her out of hospital. She can't remember much, but apparently she wasn't raped or anything like that."

I was genuinely pleased about that while Dave nodded and grinned.

"We're both very pleased to hear that, Chloe," I said.

"I'll take to you about her, later!" Chloe replied excitedly. "See ya!"

"Total nutcase that one!" I laughed.

"You can talk!" Dave commented.


	21. Starting The Training

**_Two days later  
Wednesday_**

**_The Bunker_**

Dave and I had been tidying up, getting rid of the shit and working out new arrangements.

We had discovered a small freight elevator that could bring larger and heavier items of equipment down from the cabin and it exited beside the large steel door, through the accordion-like doors. There was a winch to lower items down into the living space.

We discovered a third level to the bunker, most of which was dedicated to storage, a diesel generator and access to two wells that had been sunk many metres down. The whole bunker was over forty feet below the ground and could be self-sustaining. I had decided to throw out a lot of the stored crap; it was well past its use by date anyway! I wanted to replace most of the stored food and supplies with much more modern survival stores, and setup a firing range.

With a decent, concealed, firing range, we would be able to use full-bore weapons, as The Bunker was all but soundproof to the outside world.

* * *

**_Three days later  
Saturday morning_**

**_Meadow Gate_**

Chloe came in, with a rather shy looking girl.

I admitted to myself that she looked a hell of a lot better than when we had last seen her, the previous week! Chloe and the girl sat down on a couch in the living room.

"Natasha, this is Dave and Mindy," Chloe said. "Dave, Mindy, please meet Natasha."

"Hello, Natasha," We both said, smiling.

"Hello," Natasha said quietly.

Chloe had explained to us that Natasha's doctor was her mother, Dr Bennett, so Natasha's mother had brought her daughter to Meadow Gate for a check-up. Between the two girls, they had been able to persuade Natasha's mother to let her come over to see us, suggesting that swimming would do Natasha good. Dr Bennett had agreed and that had left the two mothers to chat.

"Dave and Mindy know about what happened to you..." Chloe said.

"Not the best time in my life!" Natasha said, smiling bravely.

* * *

An hour later, the four of us were splashing away in the pool.

Natasha was a good swimmer. She greatly enjoyed dunking Chloe, and managed to dunk Mindy a few times, too! I had a feeling that Mindy was going easy on Natasha, as normally nobody dunked Mindy and got away with it!

Natasha was taller than both Mindy and Chloe by a good six inches and had long, dark brown hair that fell to below her shoulders. Currently she had the hair in a ponytail. Her eyes were dark brown and she had a pale complexion with what I would term as a 'cheerleader' physique. She had long legs and as Mindy put it, 'way bigger tits than me'.

Natasha also turned out to have a bit of a geeky personality, too, which was amusing – she rather reminded me of Marty, just a little!

We must have got ourselves carried away as Dad called down to us, sometime after twelve, for lunch and we rapidly climbed out of the pool and got ourselves changed.

Dad had cheeseburgers ready for us, which was good, as we were all very hungry.

..._...

It was while we were eating our cheeseburgers that Natasha surprised us all.

"Chloe, you said that Dave and Mindy are your friends, yes?" Natasha asked.

"Yes, they are," Chloe, replied sounding a little unsure of herself.

"You said that they knew about your, err, Shadow-y problem?" Natasha continued.

I had a feeling where this was going and by the look of Mindy's expression, she did too. Natasha was obviously intelligent!

"Now somehow, after I get myself into shit, you just happened to arrange for the Number One and Number Two vigilantes in New York to come and rescue me!"

"I don't follow you?" Chloe said, not very convincingly.

Natasha gave Chloe a very patronising look.

"You got your tampon stuck again, Chloe?" Natasha shot back and Chloe blushed.

Natasha then studied Dave and me – very closely.

"There ain't that many twelve-year-old girls with moves like yours, Mindy. You showed yourself to be very flexible in that pool, earlier. As for Dave, he was very violent with you, Mindy and slightly more gentle with Chloe, but he treated me like a china doll – just like somebody else with his stature did, the other night!"

I saw Dad grinning, hugely. He was enjoying himself as usual.

"Now the last time I saw a giant and a midget together, was when I was rescued and now I see them again."

Natasha paused to let her words sink in.

"Dave, I owe you my life, you too, Mindy," Natasha said continuing to look at Dave. "I remember you coming into that room, Dave. I was drugged, but it was wearing off and I remember the door being kicked open and you shooting that bastard."

I just shrugged non-committedly.

"That bastard deserved the bullet," Natasha continued vehemently. "He pulled the clothes off my body and tried to touch me; you coming into the building stopped him. You were very gentle, Dave; I was very vulnerable then, but you got me to safety and allowed me to keep my dignity."

"I was very pleased to have been able to help," I mumbled, feeling very humbled by what Natasha had said.

"Well, ultimately you have to thank this fucking nutcase!" Mindy said, indicating a blushing Chloe.

Natasha turned on Chloe with a smirk.

"So Chloe, when were you going to tell me that we had just spent the morning with Kick-Ass and Hit Girl?"

"It was not for me to divulge the secret," Chloe said carefully with an uneasy glance at Mindy.

"It's obvious that you are the brains of the outfit," Mindy stated with a grin. "The one outing where you weren't about and she almost gets herself killed!"

Chloe glowered at Mindy and Natasha.

"Chloe's good, but at times she is _not_ the brightest firework in the box, if you get what I mean!"

"Hey!"

"I wasn't kidding about the tampon, either!"

* * *

**_The Bunker_**

"This place is totally awesome!" Natasha exclaimed as she stared around the living area. "This would make the best Command Centre, for you guys!"

Dad was quietly chuckling. He seemed to like Natasha and had not really said much since Natasha had figured out who we were. Before coming down to the Bunker, Mindy had taken Natasha off to one side and given her the same lecture that she had given Chloe the other day. I had to admit that Natasha looked a little paler after that conversation!

"Oh, one more question, Natasha?" I asked. "Who _is_ the Number One Vigilante in New York?"

Mindy's look said that she knew exactly _who_ was Number One"

"Now _that_ would be telling!" Natasha replied with a smirk and a slight blush.

* * *

**_The following day  
Sunday_**

**_Meadow Gate_**

"Kill me now!"

"That would not be a problem; bullet or blade?" Mindy grinned fiendishly.

"That was _not_ what I meant, bitch!"

I was exhausted after almost two hours workout. Mindy was sweating and breathing heavily, too, but nowhere near as much as I was. Dave was grinning as I lay on the exercise mat trying to breathe.

"No pain, no gain, right Mindy?" Dave laughed.

"Damn right!" The arch bitch growled before glaring directly at me. "Time for the next session!"

"Fuck this!" I growled and before Mindy could do a thing, I had kicked her legs out from under her.

Mindy hit the mat hard!

"Cool!" Dave said excitedly. "Chick fight!"

I managed to pin Mindy's right arm behind her back after flipping her over, but Mindy reacted very fast and very rapidly, I found myself face down on the mat with Mindy's right knee in the small of my back.

"Nice try, Shadow!" Mindy hissed into my right ear. "But you need to move faster, much faster..."

Mindy let me up and she smiled at me.

"You have potential, Chloe. If I can knock that asshole into shape then you should be easy!" Mindy commented, indicating Dave with her head.

Mindy had her back to Dave, so she did not see him advancing towards her, but I must have given him away as I saw Mindy's eyes widen and she started to turn but not before Dave had shoved her to the mat, none too gently. He then pinned both of her arms behind her with his right leg and her upper legs with his left leg.

With Dave's entire weight on her, there was absolutely nothing, which she could do about it.

"This was not how I had pictured having you on top of me, Dave!" Mindy growled.

Dave laughed at the innuendo and I did, too. Did Mindy fancy Dave?

"You're squishing my boobs!" Mindy added.

Dave smirked. "What boobs?" He quipped.

Dave then started tickling Mindy, who was obviously very ticklish. She screamed and giggled the place down, I was certain that she was going to piss herself! Dave finally let her go and Mindy tried to stand but collapsed back down onto the mat. She was still giggling; not how you normally expected to see the most ruthless and deadly vigilante in New York!

"Oh Dave, you are going to suffer!" Mindy said when she had calmed herself down.

* * *

**_That afternoon_**

**_The Bunker_**

"Okay, I gave you credit for having the pellet gun. Now the Beretta is a fun pistol, but let's see how you handle one of these."

Mindy held out a pistol. It was black and looked sinister. I always thought that the Beretta had some 'sex-appeal', well Mom did anyway!

"Glock 19 Gen4. Nine-millimetre Parabellum. Fifteen-round standard magazine," Mindy lectured. "Dave uses the physically larger Glock 17 Gen 4, as he has larger hands. We ladies need a physically smaller weapon, hence the smaller frame of the Glock 19."

Dave was laughing.

"What, may I ask, is _so_ funny, green asshole?" Mindy demanded.

"I was just wondering who the 'ladies' were that you were referring to?"

I think Dave actually flinched when both Mindy and I glared at him.

"Well, Dave, yours is too big for me to handle..." Mindy began before fading away as first me then Dave fell to the floor laughing. "What?"

A few, seconds later, the expression on Mindy's very pink face showed that she had figured it out.

"You two are so fucking immature!" Mindy growled, trying not to laugh.

When I was finally able to speak, I asked Mindy a question.

"So you've _tried_ to 'handle it' then?"

"That is... No… I… Oh fuck!" Mindy stammered before giving up.

Dave and I just burst out laughing even more, which seemed to piss off Mindy in a major way.

..._...

"Thanks, Mindy – despite the pain, I really enjoyed today and thanks for being so nice to Natasha," I said.

"Believe it or not, when we're not slaughtering douchebags, we are nice people!" Mindy said honestly.

"I know and yes, you do scare me Mindy and so do you, Dave."

"We trust you, Chloe and I hope that we can trust Natasha," Mindy said.

"You can, I've known her for like forever!"

* * *

**_The following weekend  
Saturday_**

**_The Cabin_**

I had the two girls lined up, ready for some target shooting with their Glock 19 pistols.

I had already given Chloe the firearms safety briefing, but I repeated it for her benefit and for Natasha. I provided an identical Glock 19 Gen4 pistol for Natasha to use.

"You each have five rounds; make them count. I want to see a nice tight grouping on the target," I said.

Until we had a proper range setup, we were using suppressors and shooting outside the cabin. Each pistol coughed five times, before the slides locked back on empty magazines. I looked through a spotting scope and saw a total, of seven holes spread between the two targets.

"Could have been worse!"

Both girls looked crestfallen.

"Load another five rounds and we'll try again.

The two girls pushed five rounds into their magazine and inserted the magazine into the grip of the Glock, releasing the slide. Both girls kept the pistol aimed at the ground the whole time, with their trigger figures away from the trigger.

Each pistol coughed another five times, before the slides locked back, again, on empty magazines.


	22. Preparing The Team

**_One month later  
Saturday_**

**_The Bunker_**

I looked through the mounted spotting scope that was set to view the targets, exactly twenty feet away, and saw a total, of five holes, appear in each target.

The girls had improved, immensely. The groupings still needed some further improvement, but their target, if human, would have been very, very dead!

Which was the point.

* * *

A lot had happened over the past four weeks.

Some good, some bad and some indifferent. Let us get the bad out of the way! I got my first period, which while making a mess of my favourite jeans, got the piss taken out of me for almost a whole, damn week! Naturally, both Chloe and Natasha had already endured several periods, so they both filled me with scare stories, so I was forced to resort to that book Dave had bought to confirm or refute their stories! Dave had been able to come to the rescue with a strategically available box of sanitary pads. First time in my entire life that I had actually hated having blood on me!

Okay, slightly better news, for Chloe. Natasha had moved into the area. As I understood it, the moment Natasha had been rescued, her parents' had started looking for a new place to live, well away from the City. They had moved into a large house, about a mile away, 518 Moriches Road. The actual move had finally occurred only a few days previously.

I actually enjoyed having Natasha over. We had talked a lot, just the three of us girls. Dave chose to avoid the three of us like the plague when we were together. He said that the 'incessant giggling' and 'girly bullshit' got on his nerves! It seemed that Natasha's parents had grown used to Natasha spending time with Chloe and us. From a psychological point of view, Natasha seemed to have overcome what had happened to her, through talking to Dave and me. She had not been embarrassed about talking about what had occurred, even though Dave had seen her naked. Natasha trusted Dave implicitly and by association, me.

Ultimately, Natasha's parents were very pleased that their daughter was able to spend time with friends, as well as friends that seemed to be having a beneficial psychological effect on their daughter.

Talking of Raymond and Tamsin Winslow, we had heard that they wanted to meet those that had rescued their daughter. Dave did not think that this would be a very good idea, but his Dad thought otherwise and Dave had finally agreed as long as we stage-managed it. His concern was that we would be seeing and talking to Natasha's parents on a regular basis, outside of being Kick-Ass and Hit Girl, which meant that they might just figure out who we really were, just as Natasha had.

We would have to be careful.

* * *

**_One week previously_**

**_Friday night_**

We had been made aware, never mind how, that Mr and Mrs Winslow would be visiting their new home, on their own, so Dave and I decided then would be a good time to visit.

We waited until after ten that night, before we crept out of the trees that surrounded the property and Hit Girl picked the lock of the back door.

The lights in the kitchen were only on very dimly, which provided the perfect atmosphere for our meeting.

"Don't touch the lights!" I growled.

"Mr Kick-Ass, I presume!" Raymond Winslow said.

"Just Kick-Ass; Mr Kick-Ass is my Father!" I replied hearing a whispered 'Ass!' in my headset from Hit Girl.

"So that means that you are the famous, Hit Girl," Tamsin Winslow said.

Both seemed totally without fear. I was pleased with that as only criminals had anything to fear from us.

"You wanted to meet us!" I growled.

"We need to thank you for what you did for our daughter," Mrs Winslow explained.

"We owe you for saving her life and saving her from something much worse..." Mr Winslow said quietly.

"We were glad to be able to help and we would do it again," I said simply.

We left minutes later.

* * *

**_Back to Saturday_**

Both girls had been through some extensive fitness training.

Natasha, or 'Tasha' as she preferred to be called, was very fit from all her cheerleading activities and was actually more flexible than _I_ was. She had almost no Martial Arts experience, although I understood that she had taken a couple of classes when she was much younger. Tasha seemed to remember a few things and caught on quickly.

Chloe delighted in being able to drop Tasha onto the mat whenever she could. That was not on, as Chloe was much more highly skilled. Therefore, I took great joy in dropping Chloe to the mat whenever _I_ could, too. Chloe gradually learnt to move quickly whenever I was anywhere nearby, and we were on the large training mat that Dave's Dad had setup.

..._...

Mr Lizewski had been very busy over the previous few weeks. His pet project had been setting up a training area on the lowest floor of the house, beside the swimming pool. We now had a large area that had a central padded mat and the lower five feet of the walls were padded to avoid injury when sparring. In a cupboard were various weapons designed for safe sparring and which were perfectly legal to have in the house.

Mr Lizewski had also put together a smaller sparring area in The Bunker with some, not so legal, sparring weapons!

In a neighbouring room, we had exercise machines and weights, basically, everything that young vigilantes might need to improve themselves and keep fit.

..._...

The Bunker had changed an enormous amount over the preceding four weeks.

Not only did we have a twenty-five-foot, two-lane range on the lowest floor, amongst the storage areas, we also had a Control Centre in one of the bedrooms on the second level. The Command Centre was equipped with a large, wall-mounted screen and a pair of powerful computers. In the storage area we had a large computer rack, with secure server equipment. Natasha's Dad it appeared was an IT Director and therefore his daughter had learnt an awful lot about computers in general and more specifically computer security. This meant that while learning how to defeat external intrusion she had learnt how to intrude, too!

I had dug deeply into my available funds to purchase secure firewalls and also the installation of the required high-bandwidth communications into the house and then to The Bunker. Mr Lizewski seemed to know many people who would do work, no questions asked!

* * *

We now had a team, of sorts.

In light of this, we all had names to be used whenever we were out operationally and in our combat suits. I was Hit Girl and the de facto leader, despite being the youngest; Chloe was born three hours before I was! Dave was, of course, Kick-Ass and my de facto second-in-command. Mr Lizewski was intending to go by the name of 'IQ' as a nod to his previous, or current, career – I was not really, sure, that he had actually retired! Chloe was Shadow and would be an operator, along with Dave and myself.

That just left Tasha.

Though initially she would not be out fighting, she would still be out on the streets and at times in a combat suit. She would also need to communicate with us over the communications equipment. In light of her skills, I had considered a few names, but after consulting Tasha and Dave, we had chosen 'Xploit'.

With James' assistance, we had been able to obtain a combat suit for Shadow and another one for Xploit.

* * *

Shadow's combat suit was built up from several components.

On top of a thin, lightweight, t-shirt and shorts, she wore a two piece body suit, which was black and made from a composite Kevlar material that was stab and bullet resistant. The body suit covered her body up to her neck. The top part was zipped up diagonally.

Over the bodysuit, she wore a navy blue top that was based on that worn by a sailor, with an open neck and short sleeves that came down to just below her ribcage. She wore a pleated miniskirt, which was again navy blue, matching the top, with two horizontal white stripes along the bottom.

For her feet, Shadow wore knee length, black leather boots, with thick protected soles. The boots zipped up on the inside.

On her head, she wore a blue wig; in fact, she had two wigs, one with a long ponytail and one with a pair of long pigtails. To conceal her identity she wore a black conformal domino mask that fitted the curves of her face perfectly.

Under her left arm, she wore a dark-brown, leather shoulder holster that held her Glock 19 Gen4 pistol. The right side of the holster had leather pouches for three, fifteen-round magazines. On her back, she wore leather Saya that held a Katana sword, which had a thirty-inch blade. Around her waist, she wore a dark-brown leather belt that supported her communications equipment and provided storage for other items.

..._...

In comparison, Xploit's combat suit was much simpler, reflecting her different tasking.

Due to Tasha's cheerleading activities, she had no compunction to exposing a lot of flesh! I advised against this as I explained that it would give completely the wrong idea to criminals, not to mention leaving her open to easily inflicted injuries!

We went with the same two-piece body suit as Shadow, except that the suit was a very fetching Tyrian purple, a much darker and redder colour than the purple, which I favoured. Tasha had suggested something that had a lot of shocking pink, but I had refused; there was nothing wrong with a nice purple.

On top of this, Xploit wore a charcoal top and short skirt. The sleeveless top went from the base of her neck, down to her stomach; stopping just above a black, webbed belt that held her communications and certain other items of equipment, including a six-inch knife and three, spare fifteen-round magazines. On her right thigh, she wore a holster for her Glock 19 Gen4 pistol. Her left thigh carried a pouch for a ten-inch tablet. On her back, she wore a small, black backpack that carried the other tools of her trade, including a laptop and certain other items of electrical equipment.

To conceal her identity, she wore a dark red wig, with a long ponytail and a charcoal-coloured conformal mask that surrounded her eyes and matched the curves of her face.

Xploit's suit was mainly for the protection of her body, and her identity; as time went on we would upgrade and alter the combat suit accordingly.

* * *

Then we came to another problem!

Neither of the two girls could ride a motorcycle, which proved somewhat entertaining, to say the least! We had spent two entire Saturday afternoons on the sand, trying to get them riding in a vaguely straight line. Tasha had a much better temperament than Chloe and tended not to throw a tantrum when things did not quite go her way.

Chloe was furious with both herself and the poor Honda, which ended up with most of the blame, each time that Chloe made a mistake. Finally, just last Sunday, we had made managed to get them both riding, without falling off, crashing, colliding or otherwise fucking up! For now, we had decided it would be a while before either of them would be riding a motorcycle operationally.

* * *

There was one thing uniting all of us.

We wanted to get the people fucking up our City. We all had people to target. Dave and I had Marcus' killer. Chloe and Tasha had the owner of that fucking whorehouse.

We would help each other. Yes, those two needed a lot of work, but we would move forward and I hoped to make Marcus proud. I also hoped to make Daddy proud, too.


	23. The Team In Action

**_Two weeks later  
Saturday night_**

**_The Bunker_**

We were after answers.

To do that we needed to take risks. We were commencing our fist operation together, just the five of us. There were loads of hurdles to be overcome and many dangers. The key danger was that we were operating close to home, which was a big risk.

Now, I also had a decision to make. My Daddy took on D'Amico and was too focused on the task, at hand and made some mistakes. I actually hesitated while we were planning the night's activities.

"We need to be cautious and careful, not bite off more than we can chew," I said.

Dave blinked a few times before he then hit himself on the side of the head.

"What did you do that for?" I asked.

"Thought I had something stuck in my ear, 'cause I misheard what you said," Dave explained. "I thought I heard you saying that you wanted to be cautious and careful! That from the pint-sized purple menace, who assaulted a building with two hundred men inside!"

I glared at Dave and was about to retort angrily, then relented.

"It was only about twenty, actually!" I retorted with a chuckle. "Well, I don't want this going the same way as with D'Amico."

"I'll be there to rescue you, again!" Dave deadpanned.

"I know you will," I said seriously. "But that is not going to happen."

..._...

We also had some new firearms to try out.

Dave and I would each carry the Israeli X95S sub-machine gun, chambered in nine-millimetre and fitted with an integral suppressor. These had been 'obtained' by Mr Lizewski.

"Where did you get them, Dad?" Dave asked.

"I could tell you, son, but then I'd have to kill you!"

* * *

**_Southold, Long Island_**

Xploit was in the Command Centre, below ground down in the Bunker.

I was very impressed with the setup that she had down there. We had full two-way communications between us all and Xploit could see everything that went on, thanks to some discretely positioned cameras that we had positioned earlier that morning.

Our target lived in a large, no huge, multi-million-dollar house at the east end of Long Island on the sheltered shore of Shelter Island Sound. The property was accessed via a sweeping driveway that had electronically operated gates. To the sides of the property were two other similarly large, expensive homes. To the rear was a swimming pool and then a beach that led down to the water.

Our task was purely reconnaissance and we were not expecting to have to use our weapons. However, that would not mean that we would not take our weapons. We thought that it would be a very good opportunity to see how our protégé was doing with her training, in a relatively benign environment.

If the opportunity was put in front of us to cause a small amount of disruption and it was safe to do so, then we would 'have some fun'. Dave did not think that I could be trusted for some reason, but I promised to be a good girl!

There were other concerns to. The man could be executed to have armed guards who would probably be armed with illegal firearms. We would also be at the far end of an island with few opportunities for escape if the Police were involved and they blocked our escape. We would be over fifty miles from safety, at home, so Mr Lizewksi and I had come up with two escape strategies; we fervently hoped that neither would be required.

Nevertheless, you never knew what might occur!

* * *

I was doing my utmost to control my fan girl emotions.

Being out with the famous Hit-Girl was almost overwhelming. My emotions were slightly tempered by my fear of what might be ahead of me. Tasha said that I was being stupid and I should just behave myself and enjoy the night.

..._...

I had been lectured until my brain hurt!

Mindy had been relentless with instructions, advice, guidance and orders; I just hoped that I would not fuck up! I had been trained, armed and equipped, so I really had no excuses.

Mr Lizewski had dropped off Kick-Ass and me a few minutes after ten, that night. We dived over the railing beside the road and dropped onto the beach. Hit Girl jumped out a couple dozen yards later and vaulted a fence onto woods beside the target property. Mr Lizewski then relocated himself ready for an emergency escape, if required.

"Hit Girl, you have three men down by the main gate," Xploit advised from The Bunker. "Kick-Ass, the beach is clear."

The cameras installed earlier had low light capability. We were wearing some cumbersome, but functional NVG equipment. It seemed that between Mindy and Mr Lizewski, they could acquire just about anything!

Kick-Ass went first, with his X95S raised at shoulder level while I covered his rear with my pistol that had been equipped with a suppressor. The sand was hard under my boots, which gave me good grip as we headed towards the house. To my right was the water and a whole lot of darkness.

* * *

The mini-wood was thicker than I had expected, but my small size helped as I made my way towards the house.

I was picking up no movement on my NVGs, which was good, but also bad as I needed to know where the bad guys were so I could avoid them. I had no desire to kill that evening; believe me or not that was how I felt. I had promised Dave that I would behave and _not_ turn the place into a bloodbath; I had a distinct feeling that he did not believe me, though!

I reached the edge of the mini-wood and stopped on the edge of the neatly bricked area in front of the large triple-door garage. There were three vehicles parked side by side. I rolled out and underneath the first one, stopping directly underneath the fuel tank. I pulled out a slim GPS tracker unit, which attached to the vehicle frame above the fuel tank and would be very difficult to detect without removing the fuel tank.

..._...

"Ready to move!" I called over the comms.

"All the guards are watching the gate, you should be clear to move!" Xploit called.

I rapidly roll underneath the next vehicle over and repeated the exercise. Then I froze as a pair of feet appeared beside me. They were facing the garage and had come from the house.

"Hit Girl, stay still!" I heard Kick-Ass say.

There was not much else that I could fucking do!

The feet stayed still for two solid minutes – I counted each fucking second! Then the feet moved off, towards the main gate. I breathed a sigh of relief as Kick-Ass spoke again.

"Get a damned move on, short-ass!"

Muttering expletives, I rolled over to the final car and attached the tracker before heading over towards a beckoning Kick-Ass who was over by the far side of the house.

"Well done!" Kick-Ass said, patting me on the back.

..._...

Richard Atkinson and his family were currently away, which meant that only security personnel and housekeepers were present.

The next task would be the hardest; we needed to bug the property itself. However, we did not want to leave any record of us having been there. The security system the building used sent all video and audio to an offsite location for storage. Nothing was kept onsite, which was very good for us.

Unknown to Richard Atkinson, all his video footage was being re-routed which allowed us to receive a copy of the recordings before sending them on to the correct destination. This also allowed us to send false video and audio, which would allow us to wander around the property with ease! We could not rely on the security footage, for intelligence, as I was certain that the areas where Atkinson would incriminate himself would not have cameras.

Therefore, we would plant our own.

* * *

The house was large and tastefully decorated.

We entered via a side door to the kitchen. Shadow and I made our way to the second floor and to where we believed the man had his place of operations. The room was large and overlooked the beach through panoramic windows. There was a large wooden desk, with a computer and a nice leather couch to one side and a large screen TV on the other side of the room.

..._...

We fitted six bugs into the room in various hidden locations. Four were for audio, while the other two were combined video and audio. I examined the room thoroughly, for future reference. The man, it appeared, was paranoid; the windows were all armoured which precluded attacking the man with a sniper rifle, I was annoyed to find.

"All systems are go!" Xploit reported.

It was time to leave, we had overstayed our welcome and every extra minute opened us up to detection. We would be back and next time, the man would die in a bloodbath of _my_ making!

I had a score to settle for my friends.

* * *

Five minutes later, we were back outside and crouched in the shadows at the side of the house.

"Xploit, we're clear of the house and moving for extraction!" I called over the comms.

"IQ is in route!" Xploit replied.

We headed down to the beach and then along the sand to the roadway by the bridge. Then everything started to go sideways!

..._...

"I'm out of here! I think the local Cops have been paid off to look for suspicious vehicles. I'm heading to Alternate One!" IQ called.

It seemed that Mr Atkinson had been very clever in selecting a place to live. It was not quite an island, but there were choke points. There was no way that we could escape dressed as we were, so we followed a planned alternate escape route.

We turned and ran three hundred metres, back down the beach to where there was a small inflatable waiting for us. We jumped in; Dave started the outboard engine, and without making too much noise, headed north for another six hundred metres. We abandoned the boat in a small marina and then ran towards a warehouse, or more specifically a small dark area behind it.

..._...

There, under a thick tarpaulin, were two familiar Ducati motorcycles with additional equipment on the back of one of the motorcycles, mine. Kick-Ass jumped onto his machine, pulled on his helmet and braced the motorcycle as Shadow pulled on her own helmet and climbed on behind Kick-Ass. I pulled on my own helmet and mounted my pride and joy.

We turned right out of the marina and then immediately left for less than quarter of a mile before we turned left onto Town Harbor Lane. There was absolutely no traffic and in the darkness, we were just a pair of motorcycles with dark riders. A third of a mile up the road, we turned right for half a mile before another left turn.

We were taking the long way around, to confuse any watchers and to avoid the Cops. We kept our speed low, too. Fifteen minutes later, we were a little over two miles away from the marina after a four and a half mile ride. We pulled over at Horton Point Lighthouse where we were supposed to wait for IQ to arrive in his SUV. The motorcycles would go in the back for the trip home.

According to the radio, IQ was having trouble getting to us, avoiding Cops. He told us that it was not worth rushing, just to get ourselves caught. We hid the motorcycles and waited in some trees.

It was another twenty minutes before we saw our ride pull up.

* * *

While Mr Lizewski loaded up the motorcycles, we all stripped out of our combat suits and pulled on some clothes over our shorts and in the case of Chloe and me, our sports bras. It was a warm night, so stripping almost naked in the middle of a car park was not a problem.

One the motorcycles were loaded, our suits were hidden in a secret compartment and a tarpaulin was secured over the motorcycles. We then headed slowly towards home, again taking the long route via backroads to avoid any Cops.

It would be a long trip home.

* * *

**_Two hours later_**

We pulled up in the garage at home.

I looked behind me, into the back seat and saw Chloe and Mindy fast asleep against each door. It had been a very good night's action. Mindy had bitched earlier about not having been able to use a weapon or kill anybody, but I told her that we were all alive and that was what ultimately mattered!

I took great pleasure in poking the girls awake and pushing them into the house. I then went to find Tasha who had dozed off in The Bunker; I poked her awake, too!

We all slept very well.


	24. Making A Kill

**_The following morning  
Sunday_**

"You three look happy, this morning!"

The three girls were in the hot tub, chatting, laughing and _giggling_! Something that I was really, not in the mood for.

"Well, yesterday _was_ successful," Mindy, said cheerfully.

"I agree; we proved that we could all operate as a team, which _was_ a key point of the exercise."

"Now, I need to keep my mind intact and masculine, so if you don't mind I won't stay to chat!"

* * *

**_That afternoon_**

The two girls had gone home, which had left Mindy and I to talk.

We were making use of the running machines, on the lower floor and we had been for the past twenty minutes or so. We had talked about the previous night and certain other aspects.

"Tasha proved very useful and she has some decent technical skills, despite her age," Mindy commented.

I nodded; a little surprised, as Mindy could be very limited with her praise at times, as I well knew.

"It'll take time to get her in a position where she can fight. She _is_ learning fast, but she still has a lot to learn. She can move well, but her punches are weak. Her marksmanship skills are improving, which is good, too."

"You're enjoying having girly friends, aren't you?"

"It _is_ a completely new experience for me and yeah, I _am_ enjoying it. No offence, but they can relate to my more feminine problems!" Mindy said with a slight colouring of her cheeks. I laughed.

"What about Chloe?"

"Okay, Chloe..." Mindy mused. "She can fight well; very well in fact. She has a lot of courage and her marksmanship is good, when she puts her mind to it..."

"What?" I asked, as Mindy seemed to pause.

"Chloe needs to kill..."

* * *

**_The next day  
Monday morning_**

Mindy was sitting across from me, at the table.

She was pensively studying a sausage.

"You gonna eat that, or just stare at it?"

"Dave, are we ever going to fuck?"

I almost choked on my bacon in shock.

"What the hell? Where did that come from?"

"Oh, did I say that out loud?" Mindy said with a mischievous smirk, biting the end from the sausage. "Sorry!"

"I am not even going to respond to that question!" I replied, ignoring the smirking girl's attempts to goad me.

* * *

**_That evening_**

**_New York City_**

We were back in New York and we were going after the common New York drug-dealer.

This was pure training, not to mention that we were cleaning up the City at the same time! Xploit was in an overwatch position on the flat roof of a convenient apartment block that had a commanding view of the entire area over a four-block radius and good views down the streets. Xploit had access to real-time feeds from various wireless cameras that had been pre-positioned earlier in the day.

While Kick-Ass and I concentrated on the training of Xploit and Shadow, IQ was also on overwatch a few yards away from Xploit, armed with a sniper rifle and concentrating on keeping our backs covered. First off, Kick-Ass and I took Shadow to the roof of a much lower three-storey building that had a very good view down a certain alleyway.

"Xploit, give us a rundown of the alley!" Kick-Ass called over the comms.

Xploit studied her tablet and the images that were displayed on the screen.

"I have four men. One appears to be the boss; he is sitting on a folding metal stool and yelling into his cell phone. Two of the men look to be muscle. I can't make out any weapons, but considering how large those men are they could be hiding a whole armoury under their jackets! The fourth man is the runner and he is running now, towards the street where a car has just pulled up."

* * *

"Good report, if a little long winded," Hit Girl said. "Shadow! Do we dive in, or what?"

"Trick question, huh? I don't think we know enough about them. We need to watch their movements, see if they get any visitors or reinforcements."

"It looks like you may just live to see another dawn!" I chuckled, with an approving nod from Hit Girl.

We sat there watching for another two hours, with Xploit and Shadow talking out their thought processes. Both girls were very intelligent; they reasoned things through very well and were learning to limit their comments over the comms.

Hit Girl and I 'exchanged notes' about our students and we decided that we were very close to being able to move into an attack position.

..._...

"You have got to be fucking kidding me!" I growled as a black shape appeared on the street and started yelling at our targets who rapidly packaged up their gear and left the area in an SUV.

So much for a stealthy approach! Whomever it was, they were short and dressed in what at first glance appeared to be a black version of what Kick-Ass had once worn; it looked like a fucking wetsuit; you know, boots and a mask and stuff. Another vigilante, perhaps?

"Hey, it's a dick in a wetsuit!" Kick-Ass chuckled.

"You can talk!"

"Yes, I can!" Kick-Ass grinned mischievously.

"That fucker totally wasted the whole goddamned evening," I ranted.

I hated it when time was wasted as it had been that night. I pulled out a ninja star and flicked it in the direction of the wetsuit-clad annoyance. The star embedded itself in the wooden frame of the store directly beside him. The dark form looked up in our direction and shrugged its shoulders before turning and vanishing into the shadows.

I fantasised about killing that wanker!

* * *

**_Two nights later  
Wednesday_**

**_New York City_**

We were going to try again, so we were back in the City on similar apartment blocks, just as we had been a couple of nights previously.

Again, Kick-Ass and I had our 'students' leading the operation by doing the reconnaissance and studying our targets. Neither Dave nor I had mentioned to Chloe why we were really out in the City; yeah, the training was useful, but ultimately we needed Chloe to kill. She had to get that behind her, we needed to see if she could cope.

Only, I think we might have fucked up somewhere along the line. On the other hand, more accurately we could place the blame firmly at the feet of that fucker from the other night.

Fucking asshole!

* * *

After two and half hours of boring, but otherwise successful reconnaissance, it was time to move.

The three of us headed down to the street and Kick-Ass went to the far end of the alley while Shadow and I went to the near end. Xploit continued to monitor the immediate area for any trouble.

"You know what to do Shadow; we move in and _take them out_, understand!" I said clearly.

"I – I think so."

"Use which ever weapon that feel the most comfortable with, however, I would probably recommend the Glock with suppressor."

We allowed Shadow a minute to screw the suppressor onto the extended barrel of the pistol before we moved in. The alley held five men, the boss, the runner and three guards. We believed them to be the same drug crew as the other night, plus an extra guard.

It was after ten and very dark as I moved in with Shadow beside me. The boss man was chatting to his runner while the big fuckers were kind of keeping watch, but not good enough of a watch to keep them alive!

..._...

I attacked!

I drove my bō-staff into the man's chest as he struggled to see if there was something lurking in the shadows; there _was_ something lurking in the shadows, _me_! The man barely made a noise, until he fell to the ground. The next watchdog turned and shouted a warning to his boss who, along with the runner, fled towards the far end of the alley.

That left Shadow and me, with two targets, one each, an easy kill.

"You take the one on the left; two shots to the head if you can," I advised as I moved towards my man and rapidly disarmed him as he drew a pistol and tried to shoot me with it.

I could hear yells of surprise from the far end of the alleyway, which seemed to indicate that Kick-Ass had made his move and surprised the running boss and his mate.

..._...

I also noticed that Shadow had not shot her man, she was making a bit of a hash of it as she moved to avoid the man who saw that Shadow was not much of a threat to him; he had not even drawn his weapon! I dropped my man with my bo-staff and left him bleeding out on the ground. Then I moved towards Shadow and her watchdog.

The fight was not going well, for Shadow; the watchdog had slapped her hard across the face and I could see blood. I did not want to intervene; it was Shadow's fight and I had to allow her the chance to prove herself. Which she did, reaching behind her back and pulling out a small blade and ramming it into the brute's left thigh.

The man bellowed and released his grip on Shadow who sprang forwards and smashed him in the face with her fists, sending blood flying and she struck again with the blade, this time in to the man's throat. The man paused for a second before reaching up and seizing his throat. He fell to the ground with a crash, just as Kick-Ass came into view.

I was about to call out to him when I saw Shadow turn towards me, her pistol in her hand. I threw myself to the ground as Shadow seemed to point her Glock 19 almost directly at me and she pulled the trigger three times. I turned and saw a body drop to the floor, a sub-machine gun beside him. Fuck! Where the hell, had he fucking come from?

"You could have got me killed!" I growled angrily.

"I know what I'm doing!" Shadow exclaimed with her arms held out to her sides.

We were interrupted by a danger call from IQ!

"Contact! Contact! Contact!"

Over the still night air, came the sound of a high-powered sniper rifle followed a second or two later, by the sharper cracks, of a nine-millimetre Glock pistol.

* * *

By the time we had reached the other apartment building, we received a call from IQ to say that he and Xploit were on their way down.

Kick-Ass and I scanned the streets for trouble, but saw nothing. Shadow seemed a little bewildered, but kept her pistol out and ready. Minutes later, we were all together and we headed back to the SUV.

Xploit was very quiet and I was certain that she was shaking. Shadow, was quiet as well and I was expecting an interesting night, once we were back at the Safehouse.

* * *

**_Safehouse C_**

Once we were safely inside and the door was secured, I turned to the others.

"What the fucking hell, happened?" I demanded.

Dave just shrugged as he pulled off his mask, so I turned to James.

"Three men came out onto the roof; they were all armed with suppressed weapons and started shooting immediately. I dropped one with the rifle, blew a hole clean through him! The other two were dropped by mild mannered Tasha there," James said, indicating Tasha.

I looked over at Tasha, who had removed her mask and her face was devoid of all expression. So much for the evening being designed to get Chloe to kill for the first time! Tasha had just killed, twice, in a life and death situation, which was _not_ where she was supposed to have been.

"Okay, tonight went a little wrong, but it accomplished one of its objectives and accomplished another, unintended, objective!" I announced. "First, let's get ourselves cleaned up and then we can talk.

* * *

Chloe went first to get her shower and returned ten minutes later, looking a little happier.

"You okay? I saw the blood earlier," I asked.

"All gone, just a sore nose!" Chloe replied sitting down on the couch. "Tasha's in the shower."

"Despite you almost blowing my head off, you killed that guy; well done!"

Chloe rolled her eyes.

"I _was_ aiming for the guy, you were just in my line of fire and he was about to kill you!" she replied.

"No idea where that cunt appeared from; we never saw him at all, all evening, until that very moment."

"Not to mention the assholes that appeared on the rooftop!" James growled unhappily.

"Yeah; that was completely out of the fucking blue!"

At that moment, Tasha appeared with a towel wrapped around her, like Chloe.

"I just killed two men!"

..._...

Tasha sat down beside Chloe while I went for my shower. I was more than a little concerned about Tasha, as it was not very long since her _last_ major trauma! Chloe had not actually talked about the man that she had killed; well she had in a roundabout way, but not as directly as Tasha had. Was Chloe trying to avoid the subject?

As I dived under the hot water, I decided to just see how things played out and take the emotions as they occurred, as there was nothing else I could really do till then.

* * *

When I returned to the others, so that Dave could go for his shower, I found James cleaning his sniper rifle and the two girls, still wrapped in their towels, cleaning their pistols at the table.

"Whose idea was this?" I asked expecting it to have been James' idea.

"Actually it was Tasha's idea; I just followed the girl's example," James explained with a grin.

I sat down to join them, grabbing my blood soiled bō-staff and some cleaning equipment.

* * *

I was generally beyond surprises in my line of work, although I had to admit that seeing three young girls, with nothing but towels wrapped around them, cleaning weapons, was a little surprising.

Nevertheless, I sat down and joined them while Dad took the opportunity to take a shower himself.

My life really was insane!


	25. Sai

**_Three days later  
Saturday_**

**_The Bunker_**

"How are you two doing?"

"Surprisingly I only had a small nightmare which was a pleasant surprise, I can tell you!" Tasha said with a smile.

"Lucky for you!" Chloe said. "Every night so far has been hell..."

"I'm sorry, Chloe, I..." Mindy began.

"... Let me finish!" Chloe went on. "To be honest, I'm glad I have that hurdle out of the way."

"The first ones are always the worst; I can tell you and it doesn't become much easier. I can't lie to either of you; I'm telling you as it is. I've been doing this shit for six years and I can remember every person that I have killed. I may not have known their names, but their faces are imprinted on my memories and there they will remain, until the day I die."

"Thank you, Mindy. We trust you to be honest and we find it a little surprising, but it is good to have somebody to relate to," Tasha said.

"See, Mindy, it helps to talk!" I grinned.

"Go fuck yourself!" Mindy laughed, but I saw a moment of indecision; she was at least contemplating my comment.

* * *

**_That night_**

**_New York City_**

I was operating alone that night, near the 14th Street Park, in the City.

Well, not exactly alone, Xploit was in the truck with IQ, a short distance away. Kick-Ass and Shadow were shadowing me, as backup. We were testing out how well we could operate in the City and I wanted to patrol the park and see what we found.

That feeling was back.

I felt like I was being watched. I had first felt it two hours previously, but had shrugged it off. Then I heard movement behind me and casually moved backwards before I plunged my gauntleted hand into the undergrowth and seized hold of an object. I hauled that object out and saw it was a boy. I pulled him closer so that my face was just inches from his.

"Prepare to die!"

Normally, I would have expected screaming, but no, the fucker punched me in the fucking face and I dropped him in shock!

"You little fucker!" I growled, seizing the little shit and smacking him across the face with the back of my other gauntlet.

The boy span to one side as I let him go and he hit the floor hard.

"Hey!" A voice called. "Leave Robert alone!"

I recognised the voice, having heard it plenty of times previously. However, before I could say, or for that matter do anything else, the boy attacked me. He moved fast and did not telegraph his actions, so the attack was a total surprise; he was skilled and about my height and maybe of a similar age. He had short brown hair and seemed skinny, but he definitely had strength as he pounded me with fast, rapid and precise movements.

He was skilled but I was easily able to keep up with him, which seemed to annoy him and only made him attack me even harder. Nevertheless, I was Hit Girl and I could win the fight, but I was not about to put down, or kill, a young boy. I moved swiftly, forcing the boy to the ground and pinning him. The boy gritted his teeth in anger and used every ounce of his strength to push me off, but I had him firmly pinned.

"Get the fuck off me, you fucking yank whore!" The boy growled in an accent that was a good, three and a half thousand miles away from where it belonged.

"Enough of this!" I growled.

"Go fuck yourself, Hit Girl!"

"You know my name; may I know yours?"

"I am Sai!" The boy spat back, reaching behind him.

When his hand reappeared, it held a short, compact, three-bladed Sai. He moved to stab me in my side. I knew that the blade would not penetrate my suit, but it would hurt, quite a bit! I heard movement and the Sai was kicked out of the boys hand as Shadow flew across us both, then the boy was seized by Kick-Ass. I got up and turned towards the other boy, who had called out.

"Now what the fuck are _you_ doing here?" I asked Curtis Bennett, noticing that Shadow looked somewhat uncomfortable. I growled, keeping my real voice secret.

"Get the fuck off me, Kick-_Arse_!" Sai/Robert growled, struggling against the hands that held him firm.

"Robert is my friend; he lives down near the docks. I live up West 15th Street," Curtis explained.

"Well, it's time to go home to bed, boys. As for you, Sai – I think we need to have a little chat about running around New York City with weapons. We mean you no harm, but we don't like being covertly watched," I explained. "Robert, give me your address and I'll pop in for a chat."

As Robert read out the address, I repeated it back to him, which also allowed Xploit to make a note of it.

"Goodnight!" I growled and we vanished into the darkness where we watched the two boys head home.

Once certain that both were home safely we headed home ourselves.

* * *

**_The following morning  
Sunday_**

**_The Bunker_**

"That scared the shit outta me!" Chloe complained.

"Yeah, that was a little too close for comfort. Curtis could have recognised our voices," I conceded.

"What about that crazy kid, Robert or Sai?" Dave asked.

"He was good, very good," I admitted. "A Brit, too!"

"You going to go talk to him?" James asked me.

"I have to. We can't have him running around New York pretending to be a vigilante; he'll get himself killed or fuck things up for us."

"We need to check him out; make sure that this is not some kind of trap."

* * *

**_The next afternoon_**

Chloe had called that morning to say that Curtis was pissing her off.

Apparently, Curtis had admitted to meeting Hit Girl and Kick-Ass. He also said that he was in love with Shadow, which had freaked Chloe out more than a little!

I had spent the morning checking the boy out. He lived with his mother in an apartment on Jane Street. The apartment was expensive, indicating that his mother had plenty of money. Chloe had managed to get Curtis to spill some information about his friend and Curtis had mentioned that Robert was currently at home, alone; his mother was in Washington for a few days. Chloe had added that her mother did not know that when she had allowed Curtis to stay with Robert. For now, we kept that fact quiet from Cathy.

I had a visit to plan.

* * *

**_That night_**

**_Jane Street_**

The apartment was on the third floor.

It was an easy ascent to the balcony at the rear. Xploit, along with IQ were my backup. The normal route to the apartment was via an elevator that opened directly into the loft apartment. I gently jumped over the balcony balustrade and peered into a bedroom. Robert was lying on his bed playing on a PlayStation.

I entered via the unlocked door of the next bedroom, which I assumed was his mothers. I stepped into Robert's room and coughed which made the boy jump a foot off his bed!

"What the fuck!"

"Hi, Sai!" I growled.

I watched with an amused expression, as Sai looked me up and down, studying my combat suit and weapons. I leant nonchalantly on the doorframe.

"Wow – Hit Girl is in my bedroom!"

"Don't get any ideas, kid – like I said the other night, we need to talk."

"You want to stop me being a vigilante..." It was a statement, not a question.

"Not necessarily..."

"Huh?" Robert seemed a little surprised by that comment.

"How old are you?"

"Twelve."

"Your name?"

"Robert Kray."

"Why do want to be a vigilante?"

"I get mad when I see people get off with just a slap on the wrist. Then they just fuck off out and do it all again!" Robert said and I noticed a lot of compassion in his voice. He meant what he was saying.

"You mean that some people deserve to die?"

"Yeah and there are innocent people out there that need protecting from them."

"Where did you learn to fight?"

"I've been doing Martial Arts classes since I was five."

"You like fighting with the Sai?"

"I do – it is a weapon that can be used both offensively and defensively."

The kid knew his stuff.

"Okay. You operate alone then you're gonna get seriously hurt or worse..."

"I know... Your armour is awesome – can I get some?"

I laughed.

"You need to earn this kind of stuff, Robert. You promise me that you will not go out again and I will see what I can do to put your skills to good use. Deal?"

The boy seemed a little stunned by what I was offering, but I recognised talent when I saw it. I also saw it as saving his life, too.

"Deal!" The boy replied after a minutes thought. "Can I ask _you_ a question or two?"

"Go ahead..."

"How old are you?"

"No comment!"

"Are you single?"

"Like I said earlier – don't get any ideas!"

"When will I see you again?"

"I'll let you know, but remember; I will be watching you!"

I heard the noise of electric motors and the elevator jumping to life.

"Bye, Robert!"

* * *

**_Safehouse C_**

I sat in the Safehouse and looked at Dave.

"He seems genuine – I'll see if Tasha and your Dad can look out anything about him and his mother," I said.

"You building up a larger team?" Dave asked with a grin.

"Possibly..."

"We do have a potential problem, though."

"I know. If we let Robert in, then Curtis will probably find out about Chloe. I don't know if it is worth the risk, but Robert has a lot of talent and we could use that. Curtis is _way_ too young and Chloe would flip if we even suggested it!"

"If Curtis let out our secret..."

"We all go down and spend the rest of our sorry lives in maximum security!"

"Not what I had in mind for my retirement..."

* * *

**_Two days later  
Wednesday_**

I was intending on staying in bed; I was tired.

"Hey!"

Mindy landed on the bed and shook me awake. I kept my eyes shut as long as possible and tried to ignore the earthquake.

"I need my sleep!" I growled, but Mindy just laughed and yanked back the duvet. "Fucking bitch!"

I opened my eyes and glared at the grinning girl. I gave up and got out of bed, heading for the bathroom. When I left the bathroom, Mindy was gone – that in itself was slightly ominous. I dressed and headed for the kitchen.

..._...

Dad was standing there with a big grin on his face as he finished cooking breakfast. Mindy was standing beside the table looking anything but innocent.

"What have you done?" I asked Mindy.

I was very surprised by what happened next; Mindy ran forward and kissed me!

"Happy birthday, Dave!"

The blushing Mindy then shoved me over towards the table where a very large box lay. I started to unwrap the green paper, with yellow ribbon, that the box was wrapped in; I took my time. Unfortunately, my slow pace seemed to annoy Mindy, who was hopping from one foot to another and she looked like she needed the bathroom rather badly!

Once I had removed the wrapping and removed the cardboard lid, I found a large black, canvas bag that was approximately three feet in length. I unzipped the bag and opened it out, flat. Inside was a custom Heckler &amp; Koch G36K assault rifle in black and dark green. The 'K', I knew, stood for 'kurz' or 'short'; as in, the G36K was the short version of the G36 assault rifle. The G36K was almost five and a half inches shorter than its larger cousin was and just over five and a half inches longer than the G36C that we had seen others use, as well as being half a kilo heavier, too! The weapon was generally similar, except for the longer barrel.

It was not a standard G36K rifle. It was fitted with a combination laser designator and light, which was mounted above the barrel. Below the barrel was a mean looking AG36 40-millimetre grenade launcher. On top of the weapon was a combination iron and telescopic sight. The stock was foldable and on the end of the barrel was a Rotex-III compact silencer.

Mindy was looking at me expectantly and she looked like she was about to explode, with anxiety!

"It's fucking awesome, Mindy; I love it!"

Mindy must have been holding her breath, because she let it out all in one go.

"James and I selected it. We need some more firepower out there. I will continue using the X95S and I am hoping to train the girls in using them, too. You are bigger than us, so you get the larger weapon."

"Awesome!"


	26. Another Card Is Dealt

**_That weekend_**

**_Saturday_**

**_Pier 88  
New York City_**

The USS Churchill was alongside Pier 88, her towering bow pointing towards the city between West 47th and West 48th Streets.

"I've never been on a ship before and definitely not a warship," Mindy commented as she gazed upwards at over nine-thousand tonnes of steel.

"I have, many times; it's fun!" I replied as we headed towards the stern of the ship and the gangway.

"I'm looking forward to it; it's a first for me too," Tasha chipped in.

Mom was supposed to have been with us, but unfortunately, she had had to take Curtis into the City, however she would join us later. I was looking forward to seeing my Dad; it had been quite a while!

Everything was going _so_ well; so why then, five minutes later, were the three of us face down on the foredeck of the destroyer with our hands cuffed behind our backs?

Well, it was a bit of me and a bit of Mindy!

* * *

"Hey guys! I think we can take a short cut," I decided, pointing at another gangway, near the bow.

The ship was over five-hundred feet long, so a short cut was desirable. It never entered my mind that I was being stupid, deadly stupid! We had sauntered up the gangway and taken about ten steps on the deck before we had been challenged and then pounced upon. So there we were, three teenaged girls, we should have been escorted off the ship, but no; Mindy had to fight back!

I knew she was not putting much effort into the fight, but within a minute my nose and tits were pressed into the metal deck. I could not say a word; there had been no time. An alarm was sounding somewhere, but it soon went silent.

I heard footsteps and then voices, and then a louder voice.

"Captain on deck!"

"As you were – "

I recognised t_hat_ voice, which had suddenly cut off and then a few seconds later I saw two feet stop just two inches from my head.

I looked up.

"Hi, Daddy!" I said with a grin and my father just chuckled.

I heard some _extremely_ foul language from a nearby Chief Petty Officer and within a few seconds we were all back on our feet with the cold, steel bracelets removed. My father led the three of us into the superstructure, still chuckling. I could hear the Chief Petty Officer chewing into some of the seamen.

"_You cuffed the Captain's daughter!_" He growled incredulously. "He'll keelhaul your asses for that..."

* * *

My Dad waved us to a couch where we sat looking acutely embarrassed.

"I thought you were coming later on – never mind; I'm sure you three have learnt something!"

"Yes, sir!" Chloe replied.

Tasha and I just kept quiet! Okay, maybe I should not have fought back, but by the time I realised that, my body had already started to fight...

"Sorry, Commander – it was my fault we were cuffed..." I started.

"Stow it Mindy – it got my crew off their collective asses and at least proved that they were watching the gangways. Security is paramount, especially nowadays..."

"Yes, sir..."

"Hello, Tasha, so you still hanging around with Chloe? You will never learn!"

"She's my best friend!"

..._...

An hour later Mom and Curtis arrived. After Dad gave Mom a kiss and a hug, which drew a scowl from Chloe, he said hello to Curtis.

"Well, at least two of you arrived without hand-cuffs!" Commander Bennett said slyly.

"What!" Dr Bennett demanded.

"The three girls snuck aboard and found themselves face down on the deck in cuffs!"

Curtis sniggered and Dr Bennett looked appalled.

"Can't you three stay out of trouble for more than a day?" She asked.

"Not really, no..." Chloe admitted.

* * *

**_That night_**

**_Somewhere in New York City_**

The night was cold, very dark and there was a cold mist in the air.

The large man stepped out of his armoured Escalade and walked into the alleyway followed by four of his minions. He headed unerringly towards a group of men, his minions dissuading the armed guards from any action.

"Who the fuck are you?" The drug boss, demanded as he was approached by the armed men and the menacing larger man.

"I am here to reclaim what is mine..." The large man growled. "You now work for me..."

"Like fuck, I do!"

"Your choice..." The large man said, raising a large calibre pistol and shooting the drug dealer in the head. "You're fired!"

There was some concerned murmuring from the other men as blood, brains and bone splattered against a brick wall.

"Who is the next in line?" The large man asked impatiently.

A man stepped forwards cautiously.

"That would be me, err Boss!"

"Very wise!"

* * *

**_The Bunker_**

Dave was down in the bunker with his new assault rifle.

I had a lot of thinking to do; I also needed to see that annoying little shit – not Sai – the other one! However, for that I would need Chloe's help to ensure that no secrets were exposed. I would need to sit down with Chloe to plan things through.

My cell rang.

"Mouse!" I growled, answering the call.

Dave looked up as I spoke.

"What?" I growled into the cell, and then listened. "This had better be good...!"

I hung up the call.

"Mouse has something '_huge'_, he says!"

* * *

**_Later that night_**

**_Below the Brooklyn Bridge_**

I stopped my Ducati at the kerb and Kick-Ass did the same with his own. Mouse was nonchalantly leaning against the railing that overlooked the river.

"This had better be good!" I called as I dismounted and pulled off my helmet.

"Oh, I'm gonna be Hit Girl's favourite snout after this!" Mouse preened.

"I severely doubt it, but go on..."

"Somebody you know... He is out of his cosy cell in Riker's..."

I suddenly felt cold... I knew where Mouse was going... Nevertheless, I hoped...

"Now, you speak to the Department of Corrections and the bastard is still in his cell, but I have it reliably that he is out and reclaiming what belongs to his family..."

"Not him – _please_, not him..." I hissed and looked over at Kick-Ass.

"Oh, yeah – Ralph D'Amico is back in play and he is _not_ happy with a certain purple vigilante..."

"I suppose we did kinda fry his brother!" Kick-Ass growled.

"He had it coming to him!" Mouse replied with a greasy smile.

"Okay, Mouse – you've earned this..."

The man purred as I threw him five grand in cash! I was only gonna give him a grand, but his information was pure gold – assuming it was true. He must have read my mind.

"Would I lie to somebody like you?"

"I need more – much, much more and then you might get much, much more..."

I let it hang as I headed back to Kick-Ass and the motorcycles.

I had an appointment near home.

* * *

**_Meadow Gate_**

I was very tired after all the riding, but I needed to see a boy and scare the crap out of him.

Curtis' room was at the back of the house and the window was partially open, thanks to Chloe who was, at that moment, keeping her parents occupied. The boy was in bed and I could hear snoring.

"Hey, cunt!" I growled, shaking him awake.

Before he could scream, I clamped my gauntleted hand over his mouth, placing a sharp knife to his throat.

"Not a fucking sound..."

The boy was terrified and in the dim light, he could see who it was.

"You will stay away from Sai – you will _not_ go out on the streets, you understand me, cunt?"

Curtis nodded and tears were starting to fall down his cheeks.

"I see you out there and I _will_ hurt you..."

Then right on cue, I heard Chloe's voice...

"I'm off to bed, Mom – I'll check on Curtis..."

As Curtis turned towards his door, I vanished out of the open window into the dark night.

* * *

**_The following morning  
Sunday_**

**_The Bunker_**

I had not slept much the previous night and neither had Dave; we both knew what was at stake.

Seated in front of us both were Tasha, Chloe and of course Mr Lizewski. We had both explained everything to him and he was worried too.

"Tasha, Chloe – the rest of us know why we are here. Something very, very bad was brought to my attention last night... You are both aware of Frank D'Amico and what he represented?"

"Yeah, we are..." Chloe said darkly, looking at Tasha.

"The fucker has a big brother, Ralph. Until recently, Ralph was locked up in Ricker's... Only he is out and starting to take over his brother's domain... I am scared – Frank D'Amico took away my family and I almost died. However, Frank was a fucking pussycat beside his brother. I shit – you – not! This is a war warning – we are all in mortal danger."

I paused to let it sink in.

"Dave and I intend to see this through, as we did with Frank... If you two want out – then you are free to go and neither of you will be judged."

"NO!"

Both girls jumped up and glared at me. They both looked at each other, surprised; they had both yelled out at the same time.

"We're with you Mindy, the whole way!" Tasha declared and Chloe nodded.

"You can leave at any time, but from this moment on, we train and we train. We need to be at our peak. Tasha, we need you to gather intel on Ralph D'Amico. I'll give you what I had on Frank. If Ralph is using his brother's old setup, then we may have a head's up... And thank you."

Both girls hugged me and I felt humbled to have such good friends around me.

* * *

**_That same time_**

**_Manhattan_**

"Not bad with only six months of work!"

Angie D'Amico spun around as she recognised the voice of the man coming out of the elevator.

"Angie, so good to see you!"

"Hello, Ralph – I heard you might be visiting..." Angie replied.

"Hope you don't mind if I bunk here for the duration?"

"Of course not, brother-in-law!"

"This is my right hand man, Rico – he'll keep an eye on security. So where is my nephew?"

"Here, Uncle Ralph!" Chris D'Amico announced coming out of the study.

"You look good, Chris. Sixteen?"

"_Seventeen_!"

"My apologies, young man. So do I get a hug?"

* * *

**_That afternoon_**

Another thought had occurred to me.

I had to let Sai know about Ralph D'Amico before the kid was killed – maybe I needed to bring him under our umbrella.

"We can't let D'Amico's cunts hunt him down, Mindy – go after him."

"I will, but I had to have you onboard, Dave."

* * *

**_That night_**

I had spent two hours, combing the streets with Kick-Ass and I was getting annoyed.

Then I found the cunt and explained the situation to him. He blew me off – he could look after himself apparently!

"Sai!" I growled, pulling his smug face to just inches from my own. "I – am – _serious_; that bastard is trouble..."

"I can cope with any bloody bastard..."

"Sai, please…" I interrupted, calming down and let him go. "I am offering you a place with us and our team..."

The boy seemed stunned and stepped back for a moment.

"You're that scared for me...?"

"I've fought the D'Amico's before and I have a goddamned target painted on my ass from the last time!"

"Okay – let me think about it, please..."

"Please – just don't take too long over it; alone we're in trouble, together we are a fusion of skills, forming a single entity."

"Fusion – I like that..." Sai offered with a grin and then the boy vanished.

_Fusion_.

I thought it sounded good, too.


	27. Fusion Unmasked

**_The following morning  
Monday_**

**_Meadow Gate_**

Mindy was fuming.

She was currently pounding lengths in the pool, expending her anger as energy. Her lithe body cutting through the water like a powerful speedboat on a mission.

"She looks pissed, son."

"She is, Dad. If I didn't know any better, I'd think we were about to go to war."

"I hate to say it, but I think you're bang on!"

* * *

I was going to take the war to D'Amico – I would tear down his organisation, brick by fucking brick!

As I hauled myself through the water, I ran events through my mind and processed them into relative importance before I started to formulate violent solutions. I also took a moment to go through lesser events.

Chloe had told me about Curtis' reaction to my visit. He had been very scared, Chloe had told me, after I had vanished out of the window. Chloe had asked what was wrong and Curtis had explained all about Sai and how he been discovered by Hit Girl. Chloe of course, had feigned surprise about the whole episode.

Chloe had told Curtis that she thought he was an idiot for getting involved with a vigilante and possibly being killed.

* * *

I held a towel out for Mindy as she deftly jumped out of the pool.

Her tight one-piece swimsuit accentuated her developing curves and she blushed slightly as she noticed my eyes running over her body. She took her time wrapping the towel around herself – increasingly the exhibitionist.

She was still breathing heavily after her swim and it was a moment before she could speak.

"That D'Amico winds me the fuck up..."

"I know, Mindy, I know – we _will_ get him and we _will_ make him suffer... Together."

Mindy looked up at me and then gave me a hug.

"Thanks, Dave."

* * *

**_Two days later  
Wednesday_**

We were all in the bunker.

I was intensifying the training as far as possible. Dave had cautioned me not to push things too far; he knew me too well!

I was also thinking about what to do about Sai, or rather Robert Kray. Why was I helping the boy? Was I worried for his wellbeing? Yes. Could he be trusted? Maybe. I made a decision – I would bring him in.

Chloe had found out from Curtis that Robert would be home alone again, for the next few days, so I decided to kidnap him – okay, I was not very subtle!

* * *

**_That night_**

**_Jane Street_**

I heard a noise and sat up in bed.

There it was again – definitely something out of the ordinary. I reached for the pistol under my pillow, but as I did, I felt cold steel pressing against my forehead.

"Do you feel lucky, punk?" A voice growled out of the darkness.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I recognised Hit Girl's drawl and a light clicked on.

"Bright light! Bright light!" I growled covering my eyes.

"Okay, Gizmo – get out of bed!"

I climbed out of bed and stood up.

"Hands out to your sides and spread your legs..."

I was frisked from head to toe by Hit Girl.

"Hey, watch where you are putting those paws!" I cautioned with a smirk, looking over at Shadow.

"Don't flatter yourself; Kick-Ass is way bigger!" Hit Girl retorted.

* * *

Fuck!

Did I just say that!

"Get dressed as Sai and I want to check each and every item of clothing. You also need to get together a change of clothes too and we will be checking each and every item."

The kid was a little shy at dressing in front of Shadow, and me but I wanted to keep an eye on him; we were taking a big risk by taking him back to the bunker. I allowed him to carry his weapons, but checked them out first.

Finally, the kid was hauled out, hooded and thrown into the back of the SUV.

* * *

I tried to count every turn, but lost count after what seemed like an hours driving.

We finally stopped and I was hauled out of the back of the four-wheel drive. Then I was led outside and then into a building. We descended some concrete steps before the hood over my head was then pulled off and I found myself in what looked like an underground bunker.

Around me was Hit Girl, Kick-Ass, Shadow and another that I did not know.

* * *

"Welcome, Sai."

"Hi!" I replied.

"You know me and Shadow and Kick-Ass – but you might not know, Xploit."

"Hi!" I repeated, studying the girls a little closer, especially the new one, Xploit.

"You like what you see?" Xploit grinned.

"Not too bad at all!"

"You still wanting to join us?" Hit Girl asked.

* * *

"It could be fun..."

"Now don't take this the wrong way," Kick-Ass began. "See, we like you, but we don't trust you."

"Don't take it personal, though, we don't trust anybody," Hit Girl added with a smirk. "Nevertheless, you have potential."

"You start your training in the morning – you can sleep in there," Shadow said, pointing towards what looked to be a bedroom. "I would strongly advise against wandering about..."

* * *

**_The following morning  
Thursday_**

I awoke confused.

It took me a moment to realise that I was in a strange bed in a strange bedroom. There was a gentle knock on the door.

"Yeah!" I called out.

The door opened and I recognised Shadow.

"Good morning – I assume you slept well..."

"Yes, thank you, Shadow."

"Breakfast in ten minutes – I would suggest t-shirt and shorts..."

* * *

**_An hour later_**

That bitch was taking the piss.

Every time I tried to out her down, she put me down and hard. She was good, but she had to be. I only knew about Hit Girl by her reputation. Not much was known about her, but what was known was that she was good and would kill without so much as a blink.

Kick-Ass was well known, thanks to his antics that had inspired people like me. Shadow was something new, but if she was with Hit Girl then she must have been skilled. As for Xploit – she did not seem to be a fighter. Mind you, she laughed every time I was shown the mat!

"You having fun yet?"

"Yes, Hit Girl, I am having fun – but nowhere near as much as you are!"

"True – I _am_ enjoying myself!" Hit Girl agreed.

"So, is this an audition?" I asked as I sent a strong kick towards Hit Girl, which she deflected, but only just.

"Maybe..."

Then Hit Girl changed the rules and Shadow came onto the mat. Two against one – I could handle them both!

* * *

Five minutes later the smug look was gone.

"Okay, I yield to the hot chicks in body armour!" Sai groaned.

"Not as good as I thought..." Hit Girl commented.

"I have so much more!" I said quickly.

Shadow laughed as she hauled Sai back to his feet.

"Maybe we could see a bit more..." Hit Girl mused.

"I think you just can't bear to let a gorgeous guy like me out of your sight," I said.

"I don't know where you get your delusions, laser brain," Chloe quipped.

"Okay, shit for brains – get on your feet!"

"Bitchy!"

"You ain't seen nothing yet!" Kick-Ass groaned.

* * *

Hit Girl levelled the pistol at Sai's chest, squeezed the trigger and the firing sequence commenced.

The firing pin struck the case rim and ignited the priming compound. The flame generated by the priming compound ignited the powder charge, which burned rapidly generating a volume of hot, high-pressure gas. The gas pushed the bullet through the rifled bore at high speed and there was a sharp report as the bullet exited the muzzle of the pistol.

In just one third of one tenth of a second the bullet covered the ten metres to Sai and blasted the boy backwards where he landed on the mat.

"Bloody hell!"

"Cool, huh!" Hit Girl said with a broad grin.

"I've never been shot before..."

"Now you know what it feels like, kid."

"You enjoyed that, far too much!" Sai growled.

"As I said; you ain't seen nothing yet!" Kick-Ass grinned.

* * *

**_That night_**

**_The Bunker_**

We were settling down for the evening having run Sai through his paces again.

They boy was very tired and we would take him home in the morning. It was irritating wearing our suits and masks all the time, but we had no choice. Towards eight o'clock, we were getting tired, but that was when an alarm sounded.

"What the fuck is that?" Shadow asked.

"No fucking idea!" I replied.

"Don't you lot read!" Xploit growled. "It means there's an intruder approaching the cabin!"

"Oh, fuck!" I exclaimed.

"Sai, stay here!" Kick-Ass ordered as we all rushed toward the stairs.

* * *

**_The Log Cabin_**

I hid just inside the door to the cabin.

Outside there was the crunch of footsteps on the fallen leaves and twigs. The approaching intruder pushed open the door and took a step inside. I seized hold of the person and dragged them further inside, placing the point of my knife into the neck of...

"Curtis – you little fucker...!" Shadow growled.

"Chl...?" Curtis began.

"Quiet – somebody else is coming...!" I hissed.

Whoever it was, they paused at the door before moving slowly through the open door. I grasped hold of an arm and made to throw the person down to the floor of the log cabin. However, I found myself being hauled out of the darkness and thrown against the wall. I started to draw my pistol, only to find the gaping muzzle of a Beretta automatic pointing in my face.

..._...

Shadow hit the lights, her own pistol raised at the intruder and I was shocked to see who was holding the Beretta.

"Chloe, please don't point that pistol at me," Dr Bennett said calmly as she lowered her gun. "Sorry, Mindy, I hope I didn't hurt you."

"Well, well, well." Mr Lizewski growled as he entered the cabin with a Glock pistol in his hand. "The cat really is out of the bag, ain't it?"

"I think we all need to have a chat," Kick-Ass commented dryly. "Shall we go below?"

* * *

**_The Bunker_**

"Holy shit!"

Robert and Curtis both spoke at the same time as they saw each other. Robert smirked as he looked over at Shadow and then Curtis' mother. I walked over to Robert, shoving him up against the wall. I pulled out a throwing knife and put it to his throat.

"One word at the wrong time and I gut you like a fucking fish. Do you understand me Robert?"

"Yes!" The boy replied, looking worried.

"Do I have your word that you will not reveal who we are?"

"Yes, bloody hell, yes!"

I removed the knife and pulled off my mask. The others all followed suit.

"Robert, I am Mindy. The hunk at the back is Dave. The girl you fancy the knickers off, is Chloe and with her, is Tasha. You know Curtis, but you may not know his Mother, Dr Bennett. Finally, we have Mr Lizewski."

"You look hotter in person, both of you..."

Chloe and Tasha blushed profusely at Robert's comments.

"My turn," Dr Bennett announced, her eyes spitting fire. "What the hell, is going on?"

"Isn't it obvious Mom?" Chloe demanded. "Dave and Mindy rescued Tasha when I screwed up. Mindy is that girl in the video that I showed you a couple months back."

"You mean... That was your father... I am so sorry, Mindy. Dave, I saw what happened to you, too."

"Shit happens!" Dave said.

"So my twelve-year-old daughter is running around as a vigilante?" Dr Bennett enquired.

"Yes, she is called Shadow and I know what the next question is going to be," I replied. "Has she killed? The answer to that is yes, your daughter has a 'notch' on her belt."

"What!"

"I killed in defence of Mindy, Mom – if I had not then Mindy would be dead. We are a team; we look after each other..."

"Oh, my God... Tasha, how... Your parents..."

"They don't know and I don't want them to know."

"I am not happy about this, Chloe – vigilantism! What about you, James – what have you got to say for yourself?"

"You know part of my history. Dave and Mindy are determined to do what they do. I am just along for the ride to keep them both alive with every skill that I possess. I am teaching them how to operate properly and safely. If I were not helping them then they might very well be dead right now. I am not abandoning them; they need my support."

"Okay, Mindy has a history too, apparently and so does Dave. Chloe, why?"

"I wanted to help people, but then Tasha was kidnapped and I needed help. Mindy warned me to get off the streets, but I want to help people..."

"What about the other kid?"

"Robert? I'm trying to keep him alive – he's an idiot that won't keep off the streets, so I'm training him," I admitted.

"God help us all!" Dr Bennett announced as she grabbed Curtis and headed back up the stairs.


End file.
